Tracked distance measuring devices, systems, and methods

ABSTRACT

Tracked distance measuring device, systems, and methods for determining and mapping point of interest for use in utility locating operations and other mapping applications are disclosed. A tracked distance measuring device embodiment includes simultaneously triggered rangefinder and positioning elements to measure a distance and determine location and pose, optionally in conjunction with a utility locator.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/614,217, entitled TRACKEDDISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS, filed Jan. 5, 2018.The content of that application is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to distance measuring devices,systems, and methods. More specifically, but not exclusively, thedisclosure relates to tracked distance measuring devices, systems, andmethods for use with utility locating and mapping systems to identifyand map points of interest (POIs).

BACKGROUND

In typical mapping systems, one or more points of interest (POIs) may beincluded with other map information to show a location or feature withinthe mapped area. For example, locations of important landmarks ortourist attractions, hospitals or other service facilities, utilityassets such as fire plugs, covers, pipe penetrations, electrical boxes,and the like, environmental features that can distort signals (such asthose used in utility locating), and other items, features, orcharacteristics which may be of interest or otherwise desirable to beused in a mapping system may be included. Including POIs in maps can beuseful in future work, such as future locate operations.

Some POIs may also be arbitrarily selected by a user and need notspecifically correspond to an attraction or feature, but maynevertheless provide useful future information. In some mapping systems,particularly digital mapping systems, points of interest may furtherinclude metadata associated with each feature (e.g., information aboutthat location or services offered or the like). Creation of such POIsoften requires manual input by a user and/or image recognitionalgorithms to identify them. Manual input of points of interest can belabor intensive and subject to human error, whereas use of imagerecognition algorithms may fail to correctly identify and/or fail toprovide the degree of location accuracy required in some mappingsystems.

Utility locating systems are frequently used to determine the presenceor absence and location of utility lines within the ground (“buriedutilities” or “buried objects”) and map their locations. Such systemsmay include a portable utility locator to measure magnetic field signalsemitted from conductive utility lines, and/or other signals within themapped area to determine the utility's location (commonly known as a“locate”). In many utility locating operations, various things withinthe locating operation (which may be POIs) can have a measurable effecton signals received at the utility locator device, affecting locatingand mapping accuracy and reliability. For example, other conductiveobjects in proximity to a utility pipe or cable, other magnetic fieldsources, and/or environmental conditions may distort magnetic fieldsignals emitted from utilities. In addition, it may be useful to map andprovide precise locations for various other utility assets andinfrastructure in a locate area, such as, for example, power poles,signs, valves, covers, transformer control systems, metallic structures,and the like. Existing utility locating and mapping systems and devicesdo not locate, map, or further identify such points of interest, therebyreducing accuracy and reliability. Failure of existing utility mappingsystems and devices to identify POIs within the locate area may resultin less than ideal fitting of utility location data to actual mappedareas, such as to reference maps.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices, systems, and methodsto address the above described as well as other problems in the art.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the disclosure relates to a distance measuring system.The distance measurement system may include, for example, a utilitylocator device including one or more magnetic field antennas, aprocessing element programmed with instructions for processing receivedmagnetic field signals to determine relative position of one or moremagnetic field signal sources and the locator and provide the determinedrelative position as locator output data and/or store the determinedrelative position in a non-transitory memory of the locator, apositioning element for determining a location of the signal trackingdevice in three dimensional space and providing output data defining thedetermined location, and a tracked distance measuring device. Thetracked distance measuring device may include, for example, a housing, arangefinder element for determining a distance or relative position to apoint of interest (POI), and providing rangefinder output datacorresponding to the determined distance or relative position to thePOI, a magnetic field dipole sonde that may include an alternatingcurrent (AC) signal generator including an output for providing anoutput AC current signal at one or more predetermined frequencies and amagnetic field dipole antenna operatively coupled to the AC signalgenerator output to receive the output AC current signal and radiate acorresponding magnetic field dipole signal for sensing by the utilitylocator device. The tracked distance measurement device may furtherinclude an actuator mechanism operatively coupled to the rangefinderelement and the magnetic field dipole sonde for triggering a distancedetermination and triggering generation of the magnetic field dipolesignal in conjunction with the triggering a distance determination. Thesystem may further include one or more non-transitory memories forstoring the output data from the positioning device and the output datafrom the utility locator device, as well as other data, such as imagesor video, sensor data, or other system data or information.

In another aspect, the disclosure relates to method of measuringdistance with a distance measuring system. The method may include, forexample, triggering a tracked distance measuring device, in response toa user input, to initiate in conjunction a measurement of distance froma rangefinder element to a point of interest (POI) and transmission of adipole magnetic field signal from a magnetic field dipole sonde elementfor sensing by a utility locator. The method may further includeproviding, from the tracked distance measurement device, the measurementas tracked distance measurement output data and determining absolutepositional data at the locator using a positioning element and providingthe absolute positional data as an output. The absolute positional data,the output data is processed in conjunction with the tracked distancemeasurement data, and relative positional data based on sensing of thedipole magnetic field signal at the locator may be processed todetermine absolute positional data associated with the POI.

In another aspect, a tracked distance measuring device embodiment mayinclude a body element housing a rangefinder element to measure thedistance to a point of interest (POI) as well as a position element todetermine the position of the tracked distance measuring device in threedimensional space as well as pose of the tracked distance measuringdevice at that location. An actuator may be included allowing a user toinitiate measurement to a POI that may simultaneously correlate to theposition of the tracked distance measuring device. The term “position,”as used herein, refers to a location within three dimensional space in arelative or absolute coordinate system and/or as a pose that describesthe direction and tilt at that location. The POI may be mapped based onthe position data of the tracked distance measuring device and distancedata determined therefrom. In some implementations, the POI may beoutlined or traced by the tracked distance measuring device such thatthe outline of the POI may be mapped. Processing elements and datalogging elements may further be included within the central body elementor in a locator or other associated device to process and store data,which may include mapping information of POIs.

The rangefinder element may be a laser rangefinder utilizing a laserbeam to determine distance to a POI or other rangefinding devices orsystems. For example, in some embodiments, the rangefinder elements mayinstead be or include other types of rangefinders (e.g., radar, sonar,LiDAR, ultrasonic, and the like). In some embodiments, the rangefinderelement may be modular or otherwise user attachable and removable fromtracked distance measuring device. For example, the rangefinder elementmay be a commercially available distance meter device, such as the LeicaDISTO™ line of laser distance meters, which may detachably couple to thetracked distance measuring device (e.g., a magnetic field utilitylocator or other device).

The rangefinder element may further be or include an optical groundtracking apparatus to determine position via optically trackingmovements as it is moved about the ground surface within a locate area.The optical ground tracking device may further include a laser in aknown or reference orientation relative to a camera or cameras on theoptical ground tracking device, with the lasers (or other pointingmechanisms) used to direct the camera or cameras towards a POI, as wellas for use in a method for determining the precise location of the POI.Camera(s) within the optical ground tracking device may generate imagesassociated with the POI for mapping its location as well as identifyingthe POI. The optical ground tracking device may be positioned in a knownorientation relative to a utility locator device allowing the POI rangedata generated by the optical ground tracking device to be communicatedto and be tracked by the utility locator device.

In embodiments where an optical ground tracking device is equipped withtwo or more cameras collecting stereoscopic images of a single POI,three dimensional modeling of a POI may be implemented. The threedimensional modeled POI may be added to a map or mapping system coveringthe locate area.

The position element may include one or more dipole signal transmittersand associated magnetic antennas for generating and transmitting dipolemagnetic field signals for detection by a corresponding signal trackingdevice, such as a locator's magnetic field antennas or antenna array.For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the signal tracking device maybe a utility locator device such as those described in the incorporatedpatent and patent applications listed subsequently herein. The utilitylocator device may receive the transmitted signal or signals anddetermine and map information about the position including pose of eachsignal and thereby, information about the location of each POI.Gyroscopic and other inertial sensors may further be included within theposition elements of a tracked distance measuring device.

The body element may also include various other sensors and othercomponents. Such sensors and components may include, but are not limitedto, Bluetooth radios/transceivers, Wi-Fi radios/transceivers, and/orother wireless communication devices, imaging sensors, audio sensors andrecorders, gyroscopic sensors, accelerometers, other inertial sensors,and/or global positioning satellite (GPS) sensors or other satellitenavigation sensors. The central body element may further include a powermodule containing batteries or other powering components for providingelectrical power to the signal transmitter and/or other components ofthe tracked measuring device.

In exemplary utility locating and mapping system embodiments, the signaltracking device may be a utility locator device as further described inthe incorporated patents and patent applications listed subsequentlyherein. The utility locator device may receive the transmitted signal orsignals and determine and map information about the position includingpose of each signal and thereby, information about the location of eachPOI. Gyroscopic and other inertial sensors may further be includedwithin the position elements of a tracked distance measuring device.

In another aspect, the utility locator device of systems and methodsherein receive the signal or signals from a tracked distance measuringdevice while simultaneously receiving signals from other sources suchas, but not limited to, buried utility lines, pipe Sondes, and/or othersystem devices, and determine the position of each signal. The utilitylocator may use a dodecahedral or similar antenna array and associatedcomponents configured to make tensor gradient measurements of receivedmagnetic field signals, such as described in the incorporatedapplications.

In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed towardscorresponding methods for determining the position, which includes pose,of signals received at a utility locator from a tracked measuringdevice.

In another aspect, embodiment of the present disclosure may include oneor more information input elements to associate and/or annotate POIs.The input elements of some embodiments may include methods and apparatusfor taking audio notes created by a user and further correlating orassociating such audio notes or other information with the POI, marklocation, and/or other signal data. Speech-to-text (STT) type or similaror equivalent translating methods may be used to translate audio filesand create virtual POIs that may further be used in the map systemscontaining utility information.

In another aspect, image recognition, artificial intelligence,simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), or similar or equivalentmethods may be used to recognize and generate corresponding POI metadatafrom POI images.

In another aspect, in some stand-alone tracked distance measuring devicesystem embodiments, the position of the device correlating to a POI maybe determined and stored within the tracked distance measuring device.Global navigation satellite sensors such as GPS receivers and/or otherposition and orientation sensors may be used in systems to determine thedevice's absolute location information and store the locationinformation correlating to the POI distance data.

In another aspect, methods for determining dipole signal location andPOI location are described.

Various additional aspects, features, and functions are described belowin conjunction with the appended Drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present application may be more fully appreciated in connection withthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates details of one embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device and utility locating system.

FIG. 2A illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device.

FIG. 2B is a section view of details of the tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment of FIG. 2A along line 2B-2B.

FIG. 2C illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device.

FIG. 2D is a sectional view of details of the tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment of FIG. 2C along line 2D-2D.

FIG. 2E illustrates details of a tracked distance measuring deviceembodiment.

FIG. 2F is a section view of details of the tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment of FIG. 2E along line 2F-2F.

FIG. 2G illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device and utility locating system showing aiming of thetracked distance measuring device.

FIG. 3A illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for POI mappingwithin a tracked distance measuring device and utility locating system.

FIG. 3B illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for POI mappingwithin a tracked distance measuring device and utility locating systemwith correlated user input.

FIG. 4 illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for calculatingdipole signal source information.

FIG. 5A illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device and utility locating system defining measurement termsfor method embodiment 550 of FIG. 5C.

FIG. 5B is another illustration of details of a tracked distancemeasuring device and utility locating system embodiment definingmeasurement terms for method embodiment 550 of FIG. 5C.

FIG. 5C illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for determiningPOI location.

FIG. 6 illustrates details of a tracked distance measuring device systemembodiment using a different signal receiving device.

FIG. 7 illustrates details of a standalone tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates details of a standalone tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment defining measurement terms for method embodiment 900of FIG. 9.

FIG. 9 illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for locating andmapping POIs from a standalone tracked distance measuring device.

FIG. 10A illustrates details of a standalone tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment.

FIG. 10B is a sectional view of details of the standalone trackeddistance measuring device embodiment of FIG. 10A along line 10B-10B.

FIG. 11A illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device embodiment that accommodates a separate distance meterdevice.

FIG. 11B is another view of details of the tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment of FIG. 11A.

FIG. 11C is a section view of details of the tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment of FIG. 11A along line 11C-11C.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example operation for tracing a POI with atracked distance measuring device embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device for use in determining the dimensions and geometry of aPOI.

FIG. 14A is an illustration details of a locate operation where thedistance measuring capabilities are built into an optical groundtracking device embodiment.

FIG. 14B illustrates details of the optical ground tracking deviceembodiment of FIG. 14A.

FIG. 14C illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for finding alaser spot corresponding to a POI within two or more subsequent cameraframes.

FIG. 14D illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for findingthe range to a laser spot corresponding to a POI.

FIG. 15 illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for using anoptical ground tracking device as a POI mapping device.

FIG. 16 illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device and utility locating system.

FIG. 17A illustrates details of an embodiment showing tracked distancemeasuring device with a smart phone attached thereto.

FIG. 17B illustrates details of an embodiment of a tracked distancemeasuring device.

FIG. 17C is a section view of details of the tracked distance measuringdevice embodiment of FIG. 17B.

FIG. 18 illustrates details of an embodiment of a GPS backpack deviceused in conjunction with the tracked distance measuring deviceembodiment of FIG. 16.

FIG. 19 illustrates details of an embodiment of a POI identificationsystem without a utility locator device.

FIG. 20 illustrates details of an embodiment of a method for POIidentification system embodiments configured to operate without autility locator device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Terminology

As used herein, the terms “buried objects,” “buried assets,” and “buriedutilities” include electrically conductive objects such as water andsewer lines, power lines, and other buried conductors, as well asobjects located inside walls, between floors in multi-story buildings,or cast into concrete slabs as well as non-conductive utilities andelectronic marker devices. They further include other conductive andnonconductive objects disposed below the surface of the ground.

In a typical application a buried object is a pipe, cable, conduit,wire, or other object buried under the ground surface, at a depth offrom a few centimeters to meters or more, which has an alternatingcurrent flowing in it, with the alternating current generating acorresponding electromagnetic field. Metallic pipes or wires can carrytheir own conductive current, while non-metallic utilities, such as PVCor EBS pipe, or other non-conductors, may have tracing wires withcurrent flow in them or may have marker devices or other mechanisms toindicate their presence.

In a locate operation, a user, such as a utility company employee,construction company employee, homeowner, or other person attempts tofind the utility based on sensing magnetic fields generated by the ACcurrent flow in the utility (or in a tracer wire, RFID-like marker, orother tracing element). The sensed information may be used directly ormay be combined with other information to mark the utility, map theutility (e.g., by surface position as defined by latitude/longitude orother surface coordinates, and/or also by depth), and/or for otherpurposes, such as soil conductivity data collection, magnetic field datacollection, geological applications, and the like.

As noted above, locating buried utilities or other assets may be done byreceiving AC magnetic field signals emitted from the utilities and thenprocessing these signals in one or more devices commonly denoted as“utility locating devices”, “utility locators”, or simply “locators.”

Utility locators sense the magnetic field component of theelectromagnetic signal emitted from a flowing AC current and process thesignal accordingly to determine information about the buried object. Thefundamentals of utility locating by sensing magnetic fields inwell-known and described in the art. Typical locators use one or morehorizontal antenna elements to determine when the locator is directlyabove the utility, and then use vertical or omnidirectional antenna coilarrays to determine depth.

Applicant SeeScan, Inc., a global leader in the field, provides moreadvanced locators using additional antenna elements, such as multipleomnidirectional antenna arrays, dodecahedral antenna arrays, and otheradvanced sensing and signal processing techniques and devices, such as,for example, those described in the incorporated applications, todetermine additional information about the buried utilities as well astheir associated environment by measuring and processing multiplemagnetic field signals in two or three orthogonal dimensions and overtime, position, frequency, phase, as well as other parameters.

Utility locators used in embodiments as described herein may be of thevariety described in the incorporated patents and patent applicationsbelow, or others as are known or developed in the art. Such utilitylocators include one or more antennas or antenna arrays and electroniccircuitry to receive and process magnetic field signal components ofelectromagnetic signals emitted from multiple sources and/or at multiplefrequencies to determine each source's relative (e.g., the user'sposition over the ground or to some other reference) or to an absoluteposition (e.g., such as determined by a positioning system receiver suchas a GPS receiver, GLONASS, Galileo, or other satellite or terrestrialposition system receiver) based on its emitted signals.

As used herein, the term “position” refers to a location in space,typically in three-dimensional (X, Y, Z coordinates or their equivalent)space, as well as a “pose” of the source at that location relative tosome other device or location. The pose may be the orientation at thatparticular location. For example, a signal emitted from a trackeddistance measuring device embodiment may be used to determine a positionthat includes a location in three dimensional space relative to acorresponding device, such as an associated utility locator device orother signal receiving device, as well as the pose or orientationdescribing the direction and degree of tilt of the signal at thatlocation (with respect to the utility locator or some other reference).

As used herein, “points of interests” or “POIs” may be any point of areaor location within the mapped or locate area in which a distance ismeasured by the rangefinder element of a tracked distance measuringdevice. The POI may be location or object within a locate area that mayaffect locating equipment or signals within the locate area or mappingof the area. In some uses, a POI may be any arbitrary point within thework or mapped area that is designated as a POI by a user or device.

Overview

This disclosure relates generally to tracked distance measuring devices.More specifically, but not exclusively, the disclosure relates totracked distance measuring devices used within utility locating andmapping systems used to identify and map points of interest.

The disclosures herein may be combined in various embodiments with thedisclosures in Applicant's co-assigned patents and patent applications,including transmitter and locator devices and associated apparatus,systems, and methods, as are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,399,issued Mar. 7, 2006, entitled OMNIDIRECTIONAL SONDE AND LINE LOCATOR;U.S. Pat. No. 7,136,765, issued Nov. 14, 2006, entitled A BURIED OBJECTLOCATING AND TRACING METHOD AND SYSTEM EMPLOYING PRINCIPAL COMPONENTSANALYSIS FOR BLIND SIGNAL DETECTION; U.S. Pat. No. 7,221,136, issued May22, 2007, entitled SONDES FOR LOCATING UNDERGROUND PIPES AND CONDUITS;U.S. Pat. No. 7,276,910, issued Oct. 2, 2007, entitled COMPACTSELF-TUNED ELECTRICAL RESONATOR FOR BURIED OBJECT LOCATOR APPLICATIONS;U.S. Pat. No. 7,288,929, issued Oct. 30, 2007, entitled INDUCTIVE CLAMPFOR APPLYING SIGNAL TO BURIED UTILITIES; U.S. Pat. No. 7,332,901, issuedFeb. 19, 2008, entitled LOCATOR WITH APPARENT DEPTH INDICATION; U.S.Pat. 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No. 15/434,056, filed Feb. 16, 2017, entitled BURIEDUTILTY MARKER DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/457,149, filed Mar. 13, 2017, entitled USER INTERFACES FORUTILITY LOCATOR; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/457,222, filed Mar.13, 2017, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOCATING BURIED OR HIDDENOBJECTS USING SHEET CURRENT FLOW MODELS; U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/457,897, filed Mar. 13, 2017, entitled UTILITY LOCATORS WITHRETRACTABLE SUPPORT STRUCTURES AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/470,642, filed Mar. 27, 2017, entitled UTILITYLOCATING APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS USING MULTIPLE ANTENNA COILS; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/470,713, filed Mar. 27, 2017, entitled UTILITYLOCATORS WITH PERSONAL COMMUNICATION DEVICE USER INTERFACES; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/483,924, filed Apr. 10, 2017, entitled SYSTEMSAND METHODS FOR DATA TRANSFER USING SELF-SYNCHRONIZING QUADRATUREAMPLITUDE MODULATION (QAM); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/485,082,filed Apr. 11, 2017, entitled MAGNETIC UTILITY LOCATOR DEVICES ANDMETHODS; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/485,125, filed Apr. 11,2017, entitled INDUCTIVE CLAMP DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/490,740, filed Apr. 18, 2017, entitledNULLED-SIGNAL UTILITY LOCATING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/497,040, filed Apr. 25, 2017, entitledSYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOCATING AND/OR MAPPING BURIED UTILITIES USINGVEHICLE-MOUNTED LOCATING DEVICES; U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/590,964, filed May 9, 2017, entitled BORING INSPECTION SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/623,174, filed Jun. 14,2017, entitled TRACKABLE DIPOLE DEVICES, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS FOR USEWITH MARKING PAINT STICKS; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/626,399,filed Jun. 19, 2017, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UNIQUELYIDENTIFYING BURIED UTILITIES IN A MULTI-UTILITY ENVIRONMENT; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/633,682, filed Jun. 26, 2017, entitled BURIEDOBJECT LOCATING DEVICES AND METHODS; U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/681,409, filed Aug. 20, 2017, entitled WIRELESS BURIED PIPE AND CABLELOCATING SYSTEMS; U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/564,215, filedSep. 27, 2017, entitled MULTIFUNCTION BURIED UTILITY LOCATING CLIPS;U.S. Pat. No. 9,798,033, issued Oct. 24, 2017, entitled SONDE DEVICESINCLUDING A SECTIONAL FERRITE CORE; U.S. Provisional Patent Application15/811,361, filed Nov. 13, 2017, entitled OPTICAL GROUND TRACKINGAPPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS; and U.S. Pat. No. 9,841,503, issuedDec. 12, 2017, entitled OPTICAL GROUND TRACKING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, ANDMETHODS. The content of each of the above-described patents andapplications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Theabove applications may be collectively denoted herein as the“co-assigned applications” or “incorporated applications.”

In one aspect, the disclosure relates to a distance measuring system.The distance measurement system may include, for example, a utilitylocator device including one or more magnetic field antennas, aprocessing element programmed with instructions for processing receivedmagnetic field signals to determine relative position of one or moremagnetic field signal sources and the locator and provide the determinedrelative position as locator output data and/or store the determinedrelative position in a non-transitory memory of the locator, apositioning element for determining a location of the signal trackingdevice in three dimensional space and providing output data defining thedetermined location, and a tracked distance measuring device. Thetracked distance measuring device may include, for example, a housing, arangefinder element for determining a distance or relative position to apoint of interest (POI), and providing rangefinder output datacorresponding to the determined distance or relative position to thePOI, a magnetic field dipole sonde that may include an alternatingcurrent (AC) signal generator including an output for providing anoutput AC current signal at one or more predetermined frequencies and amagnetic field dipole antenna operatively coupled to the AC signalgenerator output to receive the output AC current signal and radiate acorresponding magnetic field dipole signal for sensing by the utilitylocator device. The tracked distance measurement device may furtherinclude an actuator mechanism operatively coupled to the rangefinderelement and the magnetic field dipole sonde for triggering a distancedetermination and triggering generation of the magnetic field dipolesignal in conjunction with the triggering a distance determination. Thesystem may further include one or more non-transitory memories forstoring the output data from the positioning device and the output datafrom the utility locator device, as well as other data, such as imagesor video, sensor data, or other system data or information.

In another aspect, the disclosure relates to method of measuringdistance with a distance measuring system. The method may include, forexample, triggering a tracked distance measuring device, in response toa user input, to initiate in conjunction a measurement of distance froma rangefinder element to a point of interest (POI) and transmission of adipole magnetic field signal from a magnetic field dipole sonde elementfor sensing by a utility locator. The method may further includeproviding, from the tracked distance measurement device, the measurementas tracked distance measurement output data and determining absolutepositional data at the locator using a positioning element and providingthe absolute positional data as an output. The absolute positional data,the output data is processed in conjunction with the tracked distancemeasurement data, and relative positional data based on sensing of thedipole magnetic field signal at the locator may be processed todetermine absolute positional data associated with the POI.

In another aspect, a tracked distance measuring device embodiment mayinclude a body element housing a rangefinder element to measure thedistance to a point of interest (POI) as well as a position element todetermine the position of the tracked distance measuring device in threedimensional space as well as pose of the tracked distance measuringdevice at that location. An actuator may be included allowing a user toinitiate measurement to a POI that may simultaneously correlate to theposition of the tracked distance measuring device. The term “position,”as used herein, refers to a location within three dimensional space in arelative or absolute coordinate system and/or as a pose that describesthe direction and tilt at that location. The POI may be mapped based onthe position data of the tracked distance measuring device and distancedata determined therefrom. In some implementations, the POI may beoutlined or traced by the tracked distance measuring device such thatthe outline of the POI may be mapped. Processing elements and datalogging elements may further be included within the central body elementor in a locator or other associated device to process and store data,which may include mapping information of POIs.

The rangefinder element may be a laser rangefinder utilizing a laserbeam to determine distance to a POI. In some embodiments, therangefinder elements may instead be or include other types ofrangefinders (e.g., radar, sonar, LiDAR, ultrasonic, and the like).

The rangefinder element may further be or include an optical groundtracking device, such as described in the incorporated applications, todetermine position via optically tracking movements as it is moved aboutthe Earth's surface. The optical ground tracking device may furtherinclude a laser in a known orientation to the camera or cameras on theoptical ground tracking device used to direct the camera or camerastowards a POI as well as be used in a method for determining the preciselocation of the POI. Cameras within the optical ground tracking devicemy generate images associated with the POI for mapping it's location aswell as identifying the POI. The optical ground tracking device may bepositioned in a known or reference orientation relative to a utilitylocator device allowing the POI range data generated by the opticalground tracking device to be communicated to and be tracked by theutility locator device. In embodiments wherein the optical groundtracking device is equipped with two or more cameras collectingstereoscopic images of a single POI, three dimensional modeling of a POImay be achieved. The three dimensional modeled POI may be added to a mapor mapping system covering the locate area.

The position element may include a dipole signal transmitter andassociated magnetic antenna for generating and transmitting dipolemagnetic field signals for detection by a corresponding signal trackingdevice. Within utility locating and mapping system embodiments, thesignal tracking device may be a magnetic field sensing utility locatordevice (also known as a buried object locator or just “locator” forbrevity) as further described in the incorporated patents and patentapplications listed previously herein. The utility locator device mayreceive the transmitted signal or signals and determine and mapinformation about the position including pose of each signal andthereby, information about the location of each POI. The positioningelement of the embodiments may further be or include Global PositioningSystem (GPS) and/or other global navigation satellite systems as well asgyroscopic and other inertial sensors. In some tracked distanceembodiments, the positioning element may also include arrays of GPSreceivers and/or RTK GPS systems.

The body element may also include various other sensors and othercomponents. Such sensors and components may include, but are not limitedto, Bluetooth radios/transceivers, Wi-Fi radios/transceivers, and/orother wireless communication devices, imaging sensors, audio sensors andrecorders, gyroscopic sensors, accelerometers, other inertial sensors,and/or global positioning satellite (GPS) sensors or other satellitenavigation sensors. The central body element may further include a powermodule containing batteries or other powering components for providingelectrical power to the signal transmitter and/or other components ofthe tracked measuring device.

Within utility locating and mapping system embodiments, the signaltracking device may be a utility locator device as described in theincorporated patents and patent applications listed previously herein.The utility locator device may receive the transmitted signal or signalsand determine and map information about the position including pose ofeach signal and thereby, information about the location of each POI.Gyroscopic and other inertial sensors may further be included within theposition elements of a tracked distance measuring device.

In another aspect, the utility locator device of systems and methodsherein may receive the signal or signals from a tracked distancemeasuring device while simultaneously receiving signals from othersources such as, but not limited to, buried utility lines, pipe Sondes(magnetic field dipole signal generators), and other system devices anddetermine the position of each signal. The utility locator device may beequipped with a dodecahedral or equivalent or similar antenna array andassociated components capable of tensor gradient measurements ofreceived magnetic field signals, such as described in the incorporatedapplications.

In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to methods fordetermining the position or positions, which include location and pose,of signals received at a utility locator from a tracked measuringdevice.

In another aspect, the present disclosure may include one or more inputelements. The input element of some embodiments may include methods anddevices for taking audio notes created by a user and further correlatingsuch audio notes with the POI, mark location, and/or other signal data.Speech-to-text (STT) type or similar translating methods may be used totranslate audio files and create virtual POIs that may further be usedin map systems containing utility information.

In another aspect, digital image recognition algorithms or similar,artificial intelligence techniques, simultaneous localization andmapping (SLAM), or equivalent methods may be used to recognize andgenerate corresponding POI metadata from generated POI images.

In another aspect, the tracked distance measuring devices herein mayinclude one or more imaging sensors for generating still or video imagesof POIs. In some embodiments, the tracked distance measuring device mayinclude a graphical user interface for displaying images and allowingthe tracked distance measuring device to be aimed appropriately at aPOI. Images may be stored on the tracked distance measuring deviceand/or communicated and stored on one or more other system devices(e.g., a utility locator, tablet, smart phone, other computing device,or the like). The stored images may further be included in mappingsystems of the work area. Image recognition techniques, artificialintelligence techniques, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM),or like techniques may be employed to identify POIs from images takenwithin the locating system or other mapping system.

In another aspect, in some stand-alone tracked distance measuring deviceembodiments, the position of the device correlating to a POI may bedetermined and stored within the tracked distance measuring device.Internal global navigation satellite sensors and/or other position andorientation sensors may be configured to determine the device's locationand store the location correlating to the POI distance data.

In another aspect, the rangefinder element of some tracked distancemeasuring devices may be modular or otherwise user removable fromtracked distance measuring device. For instance, the rangefinder elementmay be a commercial available distance meter device such as the LeicaDISTO™ line of laser distance meters that may attach to the trackeddistance measuring device.

In another aspect, the rangefinder element may include an optical groundtracking device such as described in the incorporated applications.

In another aspect, methods for determining dipole signal location andPOI location are described.

In another aspect, the tracked distance measuring device may includemultiple dipole antennas for generating signals for tracking. The dipoleantennas may be orthogonal to one another. Each antenna may broadcast adifferent frequency or all antennas may broadcast the same frequency.

In another aspect, global navigation sensors may by located in a GPSbackpack device carried by the user. The GPS backpack device may includeantennas to measure dipole signals from a tracked distance measuringdevice to determine the location and pose of the tracked distancemeasuring device in space.

Example Embodiments

Various additional aspects, features, and functions are described belowin conjunction with the embodiments shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 20 ofthe appended Drawings.

It is noted that as used herein, the term, “exemplary” means “serving asan example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect, detail, function,implementation, and/or embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects and/or embodiments unless specifically described as such.

Turning to FIG. 1, a utility locating and POI identification systemembodiment 100 may include a utility locator device 110, a locatingsystem transmitter device 120, a backpack device such as a GPS backpackdevice 130, and a tracked distance measuring device 140. The utilitylocator 110 receives one or more electromagnetic signals, such as signal122 emitted from utility 150 (based on AC current flow in the utility150), and processes the received magnetic field signal component of theelectromagnetic signal to determine utility position and/or depth belowthe ground surface (e.g., as described in the incorporatedapplications). The locator 110 may also receive signal 182 emitted froman electronic marking device 180, such as those described in theincorporated marking device applications (e.g., “UFID” devices or otherRFID type devices) and process that signal as described in theincorporated marker device applications to likewise determine locationinformation.

Signal 122 emitted from utility 150 may result from AC current providedto utility 150 from transmitter 120, which may be coupled to utility 150via direct conductive contact or inductively or capacitively. Signal 182may be sent by electronic marking device 180 in response to anexcitation signal (e.g., as or similar to an RFID device) that may begenerated from the locator, with the reply signal then received by theutility locator device 110 to determine the location of the electronicmarking device 180 as well as orientation, tilt, pose, and depth withinthe ground.

In some embodiments, the electronic marking device 180 may communicateinformation (e.g., information regarding the utility line 150 or otherburied asset or the like, rather than just a CW signal) to the utilitylocator device 110 via a signal 182 (e.g., using amplitude shift keying,phase shift keying, frequency shift keying, or other encoding techniqueof signal 182). Marking device 180 may be of the type described inincorporated marking device applications such as U.S. Pat. No.9,746,572, issued Aug. 29, 2017, entitled ELECTRONIC MARKER DEVICES ANDSYSTEMS and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/434,056, filed Feb. 16,2016, entitled BURIED UTILITY MARKER DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS.

In some embodiments, a distance measurement system may include a utilitylocator device with hardware and software configured to receive andprocess passive signals caused by, for example, current flow induced inthe utility from broadcast signals such as AM broadcast radiotransmissions, other radio frequency transmissions, other ambientsignals, and/or active signals caused by currents intentionally inducedonto the line through the use of a transmitter device or induction stickdevice (e.g., signal 122 emitted from transmitter 120) or lines thatotherwise have inherent current flow therein, such as from nearbyconductors carrying current. Examples of embodiments of locators withpassive broadcast signal processing hardware and disclosed in, forexample, incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/360,979, filedNov. 23, 2016, entitled UTILITY LOCATING SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND METHODSUSING RADIO BROADCAST SIGNALS.

An absolute or reference location of the utility locator device 110 maybe determined or refined using a satellite system receiver (e.g., a GPS,GLONASS, or other receiver) as a positioning element and/or or may bedetermined with a GPS backpack device 130, which provides precision GPSpositional data using a high precision GPS receiver, or other highprecision device, and in conjunction provides a sonde signal detectableby a locator to determine the relative position/distance between thelocator and sonde. Example GPS backpack devices are described in, forexample, incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 13/851,951 and14/332,268. Other devices or systems for receiving positioning signalsand processing them as known or developed in the art to determine areference position (e.g., in latitude/longitude or other referencecoordinates) may also used, either alone or in combination.

In some system embodiments, GPS and/or other positioning receivers orother sensor devices may be incorporated in a utility locator device, atracked distance measuring device, and/or other connected systemdevices, and such systems do not require a GPS backpack device such asthe GPS backpack device 130 of FIG. 1; however, use of such a device mayimprove positional accuracy.

Still referring to FIG. 1, user 160 may identify one or more points ofinterest (POIs) within the locate area. For example, POI 170 may be ametal manhole cover, and the metal of the manhole may affect magneticfields in its proximity. A utility locating system, upon identifying andlocating the presence of a POI with such a signal effect, may beconfigured to automatically compensate for this effect and allow forincreased accuracy in identifying and mapping utility locations byadjusting for the magnetic field anomaly. In other uses, determinationand storage of POI type, location, and/or other data may be desirablefor mapping or other purposes besides signal distortion correction.

Tracked distance measuring device 140 may include a magnetic fielddipole device (commonly referred to in the art as a “sonde,” whichincludes an AC current signal source and a dipole antenna, with anoptional battery and/or other elements such as described in theincorporated sonde applications), and the sonde may be actuated ortriggered to generate and send an AC magnetic field dipole signal, suchas magnetic dipole signal 142 as shown in FIG. 1, in conjunction withmeasuring the distance to POI 170 (e.g., a laser distance determinationof using other rangefinder distance determination methods). For example,a trigger, switch, lever, pushbutton, or other actuation mechanism maybe included on or within a tracked distance measuring device (e.g.,actuator mechanism 204 on tracked distance measuring device 200illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B) for actuating the synchronization ofsignal transmission and distance measuring actions.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate details of tracked distance measuring deviceembodiment 200. The tracked distance measuring device 200 may be orshare aspects with the tracked distance measuring device 140 or othertracked distance measuring devices described herein. As illustrated inFIG. 2B, the tracked distance measuring device 200 may include a housing202 and a trigger or actuator mechanism 204, which may be positionedexternally. In other embodiments, other types of user input mechanisms(e.g., pushbutton controls, switches, levers, touch screens or buttons,etc.) may be used to allow user actuation. The actuator 204 may betriggered in a single action or in a continuous tracing mode (asdescribed subsequently with respect to FIG. 12) if held in a depressedposition.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2B, the actuator 204 may pass into aninternal cavity within the housing 202 such that the actuator 204communicates with PCB 206, such as via electrical connections,mechanical connections, or other mechanisms to trigger generation of amagnetic field dipole signal to be emitted via antenna 208, as well asto trigger a distance measurement to a POI via rangefinder element 210.

The rangefinder element 210 may, for example, be a laser distancemeasurement rangefinder or other optical rangefinder, an acousticrangefinder, or other distance measuring devices as known or developedin the art. For example, in alternate embodiments, the rangefinderelement may be or include other types of rangefinders (e.g., radar,sonar, LiDAR, ultrasonic, or the like). The PCB 206 may contain aprocessing element using a processor or processors and associated memorythat is programmed to generate, receive, and process various signals(e.g., dipole signal for tracking, data signals from sensors andmechanisms and/or other system devices, and the like) as well as userinput signals recorded via an audio input device such as microphone 212.

The tracked distance measuring device embodiment 200 may further includean electrical power source such as a battery 214. PCB 206 may furtherinclude various other sensors and modules such as gyroscopic sensors,other inertial navigation sensors, radio transceiver modules forcommunicating with various system devices (e.g., Bluetooth, WIFI, orother wireless communications transceivers), cellular data transceivers,and the like. In some embodiments, a tracked distance measuring devicemay include other sensors and modules including, but not limited to, GPSor other satellite and/or land based navigation system receivers andassociated antennas, cameras and imaging sensors, audio microphones andrecorders, as well as graphical user interfaces to provide visual datadisplays to a user, such as on LCD or other panel or screen types.

For example, tracked distance measuring device embodiment 220 of FIG. 2Cmay include a graphical user interface 222 on which information may bedisplayed to a user. The tracked distance measuring device 220 mayinclude a housing 224 and an actuator/trigger mechanism 226. Theactuator mechanism 226 may allow a user to actuate operation of thetracked distance measuring device 220. As further illustrated in FIG.2D, the actuator mechanism 226 may pass into an internal cavity withinthe housing 224 such that the actuator mechanism 226 communicates withPCB 228 to generate a dipole signal emitted via antenna 230, as well asinitiating a correlating distance measurement via rangefinder element232 which, in an exemplary embodiment, is a laser distance measurementrangefinder that determines distance to a particular target (e.g., aPOI), by sending a laser pulse or other signal and measures the time oftravel (or otherwise sends, receives, and processes light to determine aprecise distance between a reference point on the tracked distancemeasuring device and the target/POI). As noted before, rangefindersdifferent than laser-based may also be used in alternate embodiments.

The tracked distance measuring device embodiment 220 may include or beoperatively coupled to a positioning system antenna and correspondingreceiver 234 having one or more antennas and associated circuitry forreceiving GPS, GLONASS, or other global navigation system or otherpositioning system signals. Positioning data from the devices may beused with distance measuring device 220 and location of POIs in furtherprocessing and data association/mapping. For example, in addition toposition, the orientation, tilt, and pose of the tracked distancemeasuring device 220 may be determined from the GPS.

Orientation, tilt, and pose of the tracked distance measuring device 220may further be determined or refined via gyroscopic or other inertialsensors on PCB 228 or on other electronic circuitry (not shown). Forexample, PCB 228 may include a processing element using a processor orprocessors and associated memory that may be used to generate, receive,and process signals (e.g., dipole signal for tracking, data signals fromsensors and mechanisms and/or other system devices, and the like) aswell as user input signals recorded via microphone 236.

The tracked distance measuring device 220 may further include a portableelectrical power source such as battery 238. Battery 238 may be a smartor “intelligent” battery as described in incorporated U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/532,721, filed Jun. 25, 2012, entitled MODULARBATTERY PACK APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/925,636, filed Jun. 24, 2013, entitled MODULAR BATTERY PACKAPPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS INCLUDING VIRAL DATA AND/OR CODETRANSFER.

Turning to FIG. 2E, tracked distance measuring device embodiment 240 mayinclude a graphical user interface 242, such as a flat screen panel(which may be positioned externally on or within a housing), a housing244, which may be gun-shaped as shown, and an actuator/trigger mechanism246 disposed on and/or within the housing. The actuator 246 allows auser to actuate tracked distance measuring device 240 such as describedpreviously herein. As further illustrated in FIG. 2F, the actuator 246may extend into an internal cavity within the housing 244 as shown, andmay otherwise communicate actuation to PCB 248 such that the actuator246 provides communication to PCB 248 to initiate generation of a dipolesignal emitted via antenna 250, as well as to initiate a correlatingdistance measurement via rangefinder element 252, which may be a laserrangefinder as described previously herein, or another type ofrangefinder in alternate embodiments.

Tracked distance measuring device 240 may include one or more cameras orimaging sensors and associated optics and electronics, such as thetelephoto camera 254 or wide angle camera 256. In embodiment 240, thecameras 254 and 256 may take still images or video of a targeted POIand/or the surrounding environment. Such images may be stored in anon-transitory memory, displayed on graphical user interface 242, and/orcommunicated to a separate communicatively connected system device fordisplay, storage, or further processing.

Images may also be stored in a memory or database, and correlated withreceived and processed dipole magnetic field signals and distance to POIdata. Display of imagery from cameras 254 and/or 256 on graphical userinterface 242 may be done to allow a user to effectively aim the trackeddistance measuring device 240 at a POI (e.g., POI 270 of FIG. 2G).Imagery collected may, for example, using artificial intelligence signalprocessing, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) processing,and/or image recognition image processing, be used to identify the POIand create and map the POI (POI data/records may also include metadataidentifying the POI type or other characteristics or associatedinformation).

Tracked distance measuring device 240 may include a laser 257, which maybe a green laser or other color or other daylight visible laser, to emita laser beam in a desired direction and allow or aid a user in aimingthe tracked distance measuring device 240. The PCB 248 may include aprocessing element with a processor or processors and associatednon-transitory memory that may be used to generate, receive, and processsignals (e.g., dipole signal for tracking, POI imagery, data signalsfrom sensors and mechanisms and/or other system devices, and the like)as well as user input signals recorded via microphone 258.

The tracked distance measuring device 240 may further include anelectrical power source, such as battery 260. Battery 260 may be anintelligent battery as described in incorporated U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/532,721, filed Jun. 25, 2012, entitled MODULAR BATTERY PACKAPPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS and U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/925,636, filed Jun. 24, 2013, entitled MODULAR BATTERY PACKAPPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS INCLUDING VIRAL DATA AND/OR CODETRANSFER.

FIG. 2G illustrates an example use of a tracked measurement systemdevice. As shown in FIG. 2G, tracked distance measuring deviceembodiment 240 may be held by a user 265 such that the user looks at theGUI 242 to aim device 240 towards a POI 270, in a way similar topointing a gun at a target (i.e., the POI). The vertical orientation ofthe graphical user interface 242 and forward facing cameras 254 and 256(as shown in FIG. 2F) may be configured on the housing to allow astraight line of sight towards POI 270. Likewise, laser 257 (as shown inFIG. 2F) may be directed towards POI 270 to assist in aiming the trackeddistance measuring device 240. When actuated, the tracked distancemeasuring device 240 may generate and send a dipole magnetic signal 275.Magnetic field signal 275 may then be received and processed at utilitylocator 280, such as using signal processing as described in theincorporated applications, to determine position (location and pose) andmapping of the POI 270.

In addition to the magnetic field signal 275, utility locator 280 maysimultaneously receive signals from other signal sources. For example,utility locator 280 may receive signal 282 emitted by utility line 284and signal 286 emitted from electronic marking device 288 (markingdevice 288 is typically excited by an external source to operate in anRFID-like functionality by scavenging electromagnetic energy to send areply signal which may optionally include encoded data).

The location, orientation, tilt, pose, and depth within the ground ofutility line 284 and electronic marking device 288 from the respectivesignals 282 and 286 may be stored in a non-transitory memory, may beassociated so as to link them as part of a common measurement, may bedisplayed upon a graphical user interface 290 of the utility locator280, and/or may be communicated as data to other electronic computingdevices, system devices, and/or remote mapping systems. As illustratedin FIG. 2G, graphical user interface 290 may display a POI indication292, which may correspond to the mapped location of POI 270, a line 294corresponding to the mapped location of utility line 284, and/or amarker indication 298 corresponding to the mapped location of electronicmarking device 288. Other displays using some or all of thisinformation, and/or other data or information, may be presented to auser and/or stored, displayed, and/or processed remotely in a memory ordatabase.

In some embodiments data processing, including position and mappingdata, may be done in real time or near real time in the utility locatordevice, other signal receiving device, the tracked distance measuringdevice, and/or another connected electronic computing device or otherdevices. For example, distance measurements generated via a trackeddistance measuring device such as described herein may be communicatedas data to the utility locator device, other signal receiving device, orother computing device for processing of data and mapping POI location.

In some embodiments, such communication of data may be implemented bymodulating the dipole tracking signal emitted by the tracked distancemeasuring device (e.g., amplitude shift keying, frequency shift keying,phase shift keying, or the like) in an electronic circuit. In otherembodiments, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other wireless data connections may beestablished between system devices or other computing devices (e.g.,smart phones, tablets, notebook computers, and the like) to process dataand determine and map POI locations. In other embodiments, data may bestored within the tracked distance measuring device, utility locatordevice, or other system device for post processing of data and mappingPOIs.

FIG. 3A illustrates details of a method/process embodiment 300 fordetermining the location and mapping of a POI. In step 302, a user mayidentify a POI within the locate area or other area being mapped orsensed, such as by visual sighting, reference to an image or printedmap, or via other identification methods. In step 304, a trackeddistance measuring device may be directed at the POI and actuated suchas described previously herein. Upon actuation, the tracked distancemeasuring device may generate a distance measurement to the POI, forexample with a laser rangefinder, while simultaneously generating amagnetic field dipole signal which may be CW or may be modulated withdata.

In step 306, the dipole signal may be received at an associated utilitylocator or other signal sensing/tracking device. In step 308, theposition of the signal source emitted from the tracked distancemeasuring device may be determined. This position data may include alocation and pose in three-dimensional space relative to the utilitylocator or other signal tracking device. Step 308 may utilize a methodsuch as method 400 of FIG. 4 (described subsequently herein), or othersimilar signal position determination methods.

In step 310, the distance measurement data to the POI and position dataof the tracked distance measurement device may be used to determine POIlocation relative to the utility locator or other signal tracking devicebased on geometrically processing the data. This step 310 may utilize amethod such as method 550 of FIG. 5C (described subsequently herein). Instep 312, the location of the utility locator device or other signalsensing/tracking devices relative to the Earth's surface may bedetermined from position determining systems (e.g., GPS or other globalnavigation receivers, inertial navigation sensors, terrestrialreceivers, or other position determining devices that determine positionrelative to the Earth's surface). In step 314, the location of the POIrelative to the Earth's surface may be determined by processing thedata. In step 316, the POI may be included in a map or map system, suchas by incorporated it into map data or associated the position withother map data or information, either locally or remotely.

In some embodiments, user input may be provided to identify or add notesassociated with or correlating to the POIs. For instance, using amicrophone and associated audio recording electronics, a spokendescription of a POI may be provided by the user at the tracked distancemeasuring device, utility locator device, or other system device, andstored in memory on a file or other data structure. This annotation datamay be associated with other collected data as described herein, such aslinking records in a database or using other data association methods.

Computer Speech Recognition (CSR) or Speech to Text (STT) processing andassociated hardware may be included as separate elements or implementedin shared functionality processing elements. CSR and/or STT may be usedtranscribe spoken notes and provide metadata during locate or otherfield operations to provide a virtual POI within a map system. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a user 160 may create an audio note165, which may data stored in non-transitory memory in a file formatsuch as standard audio files like MP3 or other audio file format. Theaudio note 165, corresponding to the illustrate manhole POI, may be theEnglish language (or other language) word “manhole cover” or otherdescription of POI 170 (other POIs would typically have a file with adescription or other identifier corresponding to the POI type or otherPOI characteristics).

The tracked distance measuring device 140, utility locator device 110,and/or other system devices may include audio recording hardware andsoftware to receive and record the audio note 165, and may alsoassociated the audio note 165 with POI 170 using, for example, a datalinkage structure or other data association mechanism as used indatabases or other linked data systems. The utility locating system 100may further implement in hardware and/or software Computer SpeechRecognition (CSR), Speech to Text (STT), or other signal processingmethods to transcribe and generate metadata such that system 100 mayrecognize that POI 170 is a manhole cover (or other POI type).Pushbuttons or other input methods and associated hardware and softwareapparatus may be include on a tracked distance measuring device, utilitylocator device, or other system device allowing a user to directly inputPOI metadata and/or other data associated with the POI and/or associatedoperations (e.g., a utility locate operation, field survey operation,etc.).

Methods for determining the location of and mapping a POI may includesuch user input POI metadata in subsequent data processing. For example,a method such method embodiment 350 illustrated in FIG. 3B may be used.Method 350 may start at step 352, wherein a user identifies a POI withinthe locate or other map are, such as through visual sighting, fieldsurveying or map data collection based on hard copy maps or images, useof predefined coordinates, and the like).

In step 354, a tracked distance measuring device may be directed at thePOI and actuated, such as by pointing the device as described previouslyherein. Upon actuation, the tracked distance measuring device maydetermine a distance measurement to the POI, which may be in one or moreorthogonal coordinate systems (e.g., as a scalar distance or vectordistance data) while simultaneously, or in conjunction with the aimingand trigger actuation, generate a magnetic field dipole signal fordetection by an associated utility locator. In step 356 user inputand/or POI images may be received/captured. The user input may include,for example, pushbutton input, spoken audio notes, images generated bycameras or other imaging sensors within some tracked distance measuringdevices or through separate cameras and/or other user generated inputreceived and recorded by the tracked distance measuring device 140,utility locator device 110, and/or by or from other system devices.

In optional step 358, CSR, STT, artificial intelligence (AI) and/orother speech recognition signal processing algorithms may be applied totranscribe/determine meaning associated with the user input (e.g., tospeech-recognize that the user stated “manhole cover” in the example ofFIG. 1 and covert this to text or another digital format).

In step 360, the user input and/or images of POI may becorrelated/associated with the POI such as through data linkage or otherassociation data association methods known or developed in the art. Instep 362, the magnetic dipole signal may be received at a utilitylocator or other magnetic field signal detection/tracking device. Instep 364, the position of the signal source emitted from the trackeddistance measuring device may be determined, for example, using locatordetection and signal processing techniques as described in theincorporate applications and/or as known or developed in the art, whichmay include determining data defining a location and pose in threedimensional space relative to the utility locator or other signaltracking device, thereby providing a vector representing the relativeposition between the tracked distance measurement device and thelocator.

At step 364, a method such as method embodiment 400 of FIG. 4 or othersimilar or equivalent signal position determining methods. In step 366,the distance measurement data to the POI and position data of thetracked distance measurement device determined in prior steps may beused to determine POI location relative to the utility locator or othersignal tracking device, which may be in one or more dimensional space(e.g., as a scalar or vector value, typically a vector in threedimensions, but alternately a scalar magnitude and directional angle, oras distance data in another coordinate system). Step 366 may implement amethod such as method embodiment 550 described in FIG. 5C.

Returning to FIG. 3B, in step 368, the location of the utility locatordevice (or other signal detection/tracking device) relative to theEarth's surface may be determined from positioning elements. Forexample, inertial navigation sensors, GPS or other global navigationsystems receivers, or other position determination devices and methods(e.g., terrestrial navigation systems, etc.) may be used to determinethe locator's (or other signal detection/tracking device, or mappingdevice) position in absolute coordinates, such as latitude longitude orother reference coordinates. In step 370, the location of the POIrelative to the Earth's surface may be determined in absolutecoordinates (e.g., latitude/longitude or other reference coordinates) bycombining the relative position or distance data between the locator (orother signal detection/tracking device, or mapping device) with theabsolute position data determined from the positioning element/elements(e.g., GPS or other satellite receiver, inertial sensor and initialreference, etc.) . In step 372, the POI may be included in a map or mapsystem as a data point or record, and may be associated with other dataas described herein, either locally or in a remote database system.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in the example operation illustrated therein,the dipole magnetic field signal 142 emitted by tracked distancemeasuring device 140 may be received at a utility locator device, suchas at magnetic field antennas or antenna arrays (not shown in FIG. 1) ofutility locator device 110, and may then be processed in electroniccircuitry in the utility locator device, such as is known or developedin the art and/or as described in examples in the incorporatedapplications, to determine relative positional data. The relativepositional data which may include location and pose of the trackeddistance measuring device 140 in three dimensional space. For example,method 400 of FIG. 4 may be implemented using a dipole magnetic fieldsignal 142 received at utility locator device 110 to determine location,orientation, and pose of tracked distance measuring device 140 relativeto the locator (or other signal sensing/tracking device). The utilitylocator and/or other computing device may further include hardware andsoftware to determine and map POI location based on distance data andposition data.

If the tracked distance measuring device 140 is moved during use andelectromagnetic dipole signals 142 are sent during movement, the utilitylocator device 110 may be programmed to track and store the trackeddistance measuring device 140's position, movements, and/or orientationsover time, such as by taking a series of data points as the trackeddistance measurement device is moved about a locate site. The resultingdata may be stored in a non-transitory memory in or operatively coupledto the locator. This information may further be associated withadditional information such as data determined from the buried utilitylocator device 110 using utility locator signal processing circuitry,position data, such as may be provided as an input to the locator usinginertial sensors or satellite navigation systems or sensors (e.g., GPSreceivers, GLONASS receivers, etc.).

In various system embodiments, the utility locator device 110 may be anyof a variety of utility locator devices known or developed in the art,including, for example, the various utility locator device embodimentsdisclosed in the incorporated applications, for receiving magnetic fieldcomponents of electromagnetic signals emitted from flowing AC current ina utility or electromagnetic sonde and determining information about theassociated utility. For example, the locator may receive and process amagnetic field signal from a tracked distance measuring device sonde,while simultaneously receiving one processing or more signals from othersources (e.g., a buried utility line or other conductor, a pipe sonde, aburied marker device, or other signal generating sources).

From these multiple magnetic field sources, the utility locator devicemay then determine, in multi-dimensional space (typically inthree-dimensional space), the position and pose of each source. Examplesof simultaneously receiving and processing multiple magnetic fieldsignals from different sources are described in various of theincorporated applications. In an exemplary embodiment, the utilitylocator may include a dodecahedral antenna array or other similarantenna array to receive and process multiple simultaneous signals anddetermine magnetic field tensor gradients associated with the source.Examples of signal processing circuitry and implementation details fordetermining positional information from received magnetic field signalsin a utility locator device, including with a dodecahedral antenna arrayor other similar antenna array configurations that provide multiplesimultaneous signals usable to determine magnetic field tensor gradientsassociated with the source, are described in the various co-assignedincorporated patent and patent applications, including, for example,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/339,766 as well as other of theincorporated applications.

In implementations with a dodecahedral antenna array or other similar orequivalent antenna array configurations (such as, for example,octahedral antenna arrays, multiple nested antenna arrays, and the likeoriented to receive magnetic field signal information sufficient tocalculate tensor data), the utility locator device may include hardwareand software for determining magnetic field tensor values associatedwith the magnetic fields provided from the tracked distance measuringdevice and optionally one or more buried utilities or other conductors,and store this information in a non-transitory memory for subsequentprocessing or transmission to a post-processing computing device orsystem.

In some system embodiments, the utility locator device may determineposition data that includes a location and pose of a received signalusing a method such as method embodiment 400 as illustrated in FIG. 4.For example, at step 402 of method 400, magnetic field measurements of areceived signal, which may be or may include voltage measurements,gradient tensor measurements, gradient vectors, b-field vectors and thelike, may be determined from received signals at each antenna coil ofthe locator antenna array(s). In an exemplary embodiment, the antennaarray(s) include a dodecahedral antenna array which includes twelveantenna coils mounted in a dodecahedral shape on a correspondingdodecahedral frame. This set of measurements by the antenna array isnotated herein as M_(s). In step 404, an approximate signal originlocation estimate in three dimensional space, notated herein as S_(p)may be determined using measurement set M_(s) from step 402.

In some method embodiments, M_(s) values may be fit into or be used todetermine values for a lookup table providing the approximate signalorigin location, S_(p). The lookup table may, for example, be derivedfrom inverse trigonometric relationships between measured b-fieldvectors with gradient vectors. In some embodiments, the angle betweenthe magnetic field and the gradient of the magnitude may be calculatedfrom measurement set M_(s) values. The resultant angle may be used witha lookup table to determine a magnetic latitude descriptive of thesignal's source position relative to the utility locator. In otherembodiments, rather than a lookup table, an approximate origin locationestimate S_(p) may be calculated in step 404. For example, S_(p) may becalculated from the inverse trigonometric relationship between measuredb-field vectors with gradient vectors.

In step 406, a predicted signal source orientation and power, notatedherein as B_(m), may be determined based on approximate origin locationS_(p), at step 404, and b-field values may be determined from signals atone or more antenna arrays. For instance, b-field values may be b-fieldmeasurements from a tri-axial antenna array or b-field estimates from adodecahedral antenna array given an origin location S_(p). In step 408,a set of expected field measurements defined as C_(s) may be determinedfrom the magnetic field model of a dipole signal at approximate signalsource location S_(p) having a predicted orientation and power B_(m)given a known antenna array configuration, such as a dodecahedralantenna array. In step 410, an error metric Err may be determined, whereErr=|M_(s)−C_(s)|. In step 412, the approximate signal origin estimateS_(p) may be iteratively varied, providing a corresponding update toC_(s), until a minimum Err is achieved. In step 414, the C_(s) setresulting in the minimized E_(rr) value may be determined,representative of the signal model for the received signal having aposition (a location in space and orientation) and power.

In alternate method embodiments for determining the position of receivedsignals, data from accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopic sensors,other inertial sensors and/or other similar sensor types, as well asadditional global navigation sensors within the tracked distancemeasurement device, may be used to determine or refine position, whichma include location and pose/orientation data. Such method embodimentsmay be used in, for example, utility locator devices or other signaldetection/tracking devices with antennas or antenna arrays andprocessing circuitry that is unable to calculate gradient tensors, orwhere gradient tensor calculations are not used for signal processing.Such methods may be used to determine the origin location of thereceived signal or signals using, for example, steps 402 and 404 ofmethod 400 described in FIG. 4. Pose/orientation information, determinedthrough accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopic, and/or like sensorswithin the tracked distance measuring device, may be communicated to theutility locator device, for instance, through Bluetooth or otherwireless communications or wired communications. Such methods, includingmethod embodiment 400 of FIG. 4, may be implemented in real-time or inpost processing at the utility locator device or other system device.

In various embodiments where the tracked distance measuring device has aposition determined by or is tracked using a dipole signal, the axis ofdistance measurement may be aligned with or otherwise positioned in aknown, predefined orientation to the axis of the dipole signal so that areference axis of the magnetic field dipole sonde is axially orientedwith an aiming direction of the rangefinder, or both are otherwisecommonly aligned so that the distance measurement from the rangefinderis in a common direction relative to the sonde dipole magnetic field.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the direction of the distanced_(POI) measurement made by tracked distance measuring device 520 may beset in alignment with the axis of the emitted dipole signal 522 as show.Further illustrated in FIG. 5A, values for the radial distance r_(md)with an angle a_(md) from the horizontal plane from the center of theantenna node at the utility locator device 510 towards the origin ofsignal 522 from the tracked distance measuring device 520 may bedetermined from a method such as method embodiment 400 illustrated inFIG. 4. The radial distance from utility locator device 510 to thesource of signal 522 projected into the horizontal plane may be notatedas hr_(md).

Pose of signal 522 may be determined from a method such as methodembodiment 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 such that a tilt angle a_(POI)value in a known pose direction is determined. A radial distance fromthe source of signal 522 emitted by tracked distance measuring device520 to POI 530 projected into the horizontal plane may be notated hereinas hr_(POI). As illustrated in FIG. 5B, a value for angle a_(xy) in thehorizontal plane may be determined from pose calculations of signal 522emitted by the tracked distance measuring device 520 as described withrespect to method 400 of FIG. 4. A calculation may be made to determinea radial distance in the horizontal plane from the utility locatordevice 510 to POI 530 (which is notated herein as POI_(xy)).

Method embodiment 550 of FIG. 5C uses notation and terms defined withrespect to FIGS. 5A and 5B (and the correlating Specification language)to calculate a value for the POI 530 radial distance along the groundsurface, POI_(xy), and its direction relative to the utility locatordevice 510. In step 552, the dipole signal position (location and pose)relative to the utility locator device 510 may be found using a signalposition method (e.g., method 400 of FIG. 4). In step 554, a value forhr_(md), the radial distance from the utility locator device to thesignal source emitted by the tracked distance measuring device in thehorizontal plane, may be determined, where hr_(md)=r_(md)*cos a_(POI).In step 556, a value for hr_(POI), the radial distance from the signalsource emitted by the tracked distance measuring device in thehorizontal plane, may be found, where hr_(POI)=d_(POI)*sin a_(POI). Instep 558, a value for POI_(xy), the radial distance of the POI locationin the horizontal plane along the ground surface, may be found, wherePOI_(xy)=√{square root over (hr_(md) ²+hr_(POI) ²−2*hr_(md)*hr_(POI)*cosa_(xy))}. In step 560, a direction towards the POI in the horizontalplane along the ground surface may be determined using known angledirection between the utility locator device to the signal source andknown pose of the tracked distance measuring device.

In some system embodiments, the tracked distance measuring device may bedetected or tracked by devices other than a utility locator device. Intypical forms of these embodiments, the other detection/tracking devicesinclude magnetic field signal antennas ans signal processing elementsproviding similar functionality to those of a portable utility locator.

For example, some alternate system embodiments may be used for POIlocating and mapping without simultaneous locating of buried utilities.An exemplary POI locating and mapping system showing an example isillustrated in embodiment 600 of FIG. 6. System embodiment 600 mayinclude a tracked distance measuring device 610 configured to emit adipole signal 612 that may be received and tracked at a signal trackingdevice 620 while simultaneously measuring a distance to a POI 630 usinga rangefinder, such as a laser rangefinder. The tracked distancemeasuring device 610 may be or share aspects with the tracked distancemeasuring device 200 illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, or with othertracked distance measurement devices described herein. The signaltracking device 620 may be a base station that remains stationary as theuser 640 walks around a work area and locates and measure POIs such asPOI 630.

As the user 640 actuates the tracked distance measuring device 610,thereby triggering and initiating a distance measurement to POI 630 andthe simultaneous transmission of signal 612, the signal tracking device620 may receive and track the signal 612 to determine a positionincluding location and pose in three dimensional space of signal 612 andassociated tracked distance measuring device 610 (e.g., utilizing method400 of FIG. 4). The signal tracking device 620 may include one or moreantenna arrays for receiving signal 612 which may be or includedodecahedral or similar antenna array and associated electronics andsignal processing components configured to implement tensor gradientmeasurements of received signals such as described previously herein aswell as in certain of the incorporated applications.

The signal tracking device 620 may further include GPS or othersatellite navigation system sensors and/or other position sensors todetermine an absolute location/position relative to the Earth's surface.Measurement data and/or other data from the tracked distance measuringdevice 610 may be communicated to the signal tracking device 620 viamodulation of signal 612 (e.g., amplitude signal keying, frequencysignal keying, or the like), via a separate radio transceiver devicewithin the tracked distance measuring device 610 (e.g., Bluetooth, WIFI,or the like), and/or communicated via wired or other wireless connectionin post processing to a utility locator device or other computing orbase station device. The location of POI 630 may further be determinedvia method 550 described within FIG. 5C. The tracked distance measuringdevice 610 may further be configured with a microphone for receiving andrecording audio notes and/or other input mechanisms (e.g., pushbuttons,levers, touchscreens, and the like) which may further be correlated withPOI data.

Further tracked distance measuring device embodiments may be standalonedevices wherein tracking of positions may be implemented within thetracked distance measuring device and not a separate utility locator orother signal tracking device. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a trackeddistance measuring device embodiment 710 held by a user 720 may directand actuate the tracked distance measuring device 710 at a POI 730,thereby initiating a measurement of distance to POI 730 correlating withthe recording of the position including location in three dimensionalspace and pose at that location of tracked distance measuring device710. The tracked distance measuring device 710 may include one or moreposition elements which may further be or include GPS or other globalnavigation sensors, inertial navigation sensors, altimeters or otherelevation/height determining sensors, as well as gyroscopic sensors,accelerometers, or other like sensors.

Distance to POI 730 may be determined via one or more rangefinderelements. Within tracked distance measuring device 710 the rangefinderelement may be a laser rangefinder. Rangefinder elements of otherstandalone embodiments may be or include radar, sonar, LiDAR,ultrasonic, and/or other rangefinder mechanism or sensor. The locationof POI 730 may be determined via distance data as well as correlatedposition data which may use method 900 described within FIG. 9.Processing of data within tracked distance measuring device 710 may bedone through an included processing element. The processing element maybe or include processor or processors and associated memory configuredto perform the method and signal processing functions described herein.In some embodiments, processing may occur in real time or near real timein tracked distance measuring device 710 or other connected device. Forinstance, Bluetooth or WIFI connection may be established with a smartphone, tablet, or other computing device and data may be communicated tothis device for processing. In yet other embodiments, tracked distancemeasuring device 710 may store raw measurements and signal data and becommunicated via wired or wireless connection to a separate computingdevice for post processing of data and mapping POIs.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, a tracked distance measuring device embodiment810 measures a distance notated as d_(POI) towards POI 820. The trackeddistance measuring device 810 may be of the variety or share aspectswith the standalone tracked distance measuring device 710 described inconnection with FIG. 7 herein, or with other devices described herein.For example, tracked distance measuring device 810 may include aninternal position element configured to determine, track, and recordposition that includes location in three dimensions and pose at thatlocation of the tracked distance measuring device 810. For instance,tracked distance measuring device 810 may include GPS or other globalnavigation system receivers to determine location and gyroscopic orother inertial sensors to determine pose of tracked distance measuringdevice 810 at that location. An angle measurement a_(POI) towards POI820 may be determined from measurements of pose through gyroscopic orlike sensor. Through known values, a radial measurement, r_(POI), may becalculated for instance, using method embodiment 900 as illustrated inFIG. 9.

Method embodiment 900 of FIG. 9 may include step 902, wherein r_(POI) iscalculated wherein r_(POI)=d_(POI)*sin a_(POI). In step 904, posemeasurements of the standalone tracked distance measuring device may beused to determine direction toward POI in the horizontal plane. In step906, POI location may be determined and mapped from radial distancemeasurement r_(POI) and direction towards POI from prior steps.

Details of a stand-alone tracked distance measuring device areillustrated with the tracked distance measuring device embodiment 1000shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. The tracked distance measuring device 1000may be or share aspects with the tracked distance measuring deviceembodiment 810 of FIG. 8 or those described within method embodiment 900of FIG. 9.

Turning to FIG. 10A, the tracked distance measuring device embodiment1000 may include a housing 1002 in which a graphical user interface 1004is positioned. An actuator 1006 may allow a user to actuate trackeddistance measuring device 1000. In other embodiments, other types ofuser input mechanisms (e.g., pushbutton controls, switches, levers,touch screens) may be used. The tracked distance measuring device 1000may further include a GPS receiver 1008 which may be a real timekinematic (RTK) receiver for providing RTK signal processing forimproved accuracy. A battery 1010, which may be a smart battery asdescribed in the incorporated applications, may be used to provideelectrical power to the tracked distance measuring device 1000.

As further illustrated in FIG. 10B, the actuator 1006 may communicatewith a PCB 1012 and initiate a distance measurement via rangefinderelement 1014 that may correlate to a position (location and pose) of thetracked distance measuring device 1000. The rangefinder element 1014 maybe a laser distance measurement rangefinder. In other embodiments, therangefinder element may be or include other types of rangefinders (e.g.,radar, sonar, LiDAR, ultrasonic, or the like).

The PCB 1012 may include a processing element using a processor orprocessors and associated memory that may be used to generate, receive,and process signals (e.g., data signals from sensors and mechanismsand/or other system devices, and the like) as well as user input signalsrecorded via microphone 1016. The PCB 1012 may further include variousother sensors and modules such as gyroscopic sensors or other inertialnavigation sensors, radio transceiver modules for communicating withvarious system devices (e.g., Bluetooth, WIFI, or other wirelesscommunications transceivers), and so on.

The tracked distance measuring device 1000 may further include one ormore cameras, such as the telephoto camera 1018 and wide angle camera1020. In embodiment 1000, the cameras 1018 and 1020 may take still orvideo images of a targeted POI and/or the surrounding environment. Suchimages may further be displayed on graphical user interface 1004 and/orcommunicated to a connected system device for display. Images mayfurther be stored and correlated/associated with the dipole signals anddistance to POI data. Displaying of imagery provided by cameras 1018and/or 1020 on graphical user interface 1004 may provide a visualreference to allow a user to effectively aim the tracked distancemeasuring device 1000 at a POI. Imagery collected may be used toidentify the POI and create and map the POI which may also includemetadata identifying the POI type or other characteristics throughartificial intelligence, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM),or image recognition methods.

The tracked distance measuring device 1000 may further include a laser1022, which may be a green laser or other color or other daylightvisible laser, which may emit a laser beam and allow or aid to visuallydetermine and aim the tracked distance measuring device 1000 byproviding a precise visual reference of where the tracked distancemeasurement device is being aimed.

In some embodiments, a tracked distance measuring device may include thesignal transmitter and associated electronics with the distancemeasuring aspects implemented in a separate distance meter (e.g.,commercially available Leica DISTO™ line of laser distance meters orsimilar or equivalent devices). For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 11Aand 11B, a tracked distance measuring device embodiment 1100 may includea housing 1102 in which a graphical user interface 1104 may bepositioned. An actuator/trigger mechanism 1106 may allow a user toactuate tracked distance measuring device 1100. In other embodiments,other types of user input mechanisms (e.g., pushbutton controls,switches, levers, touchscreens. Etc/) may be used. The tracked distancemeasuring device 1100 may be configured to work with a distance meterdevice 1108, which may be a commercially available distance meter.

For example, as demonstrated in FIG. 11B, the distance meter device 1108may be removably attachable to the tracked distance measuring device1100. The tracked distance measuring device 1100 may further include abattery 1110, which may be a smart battery as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/532,721, filed Jun. 25, 2012, entitled MODULARBATTERY PACK APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/925,636, filed Jun. 24, 2013, entitled MODULAR BATTERY PACKAPPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS INCLUDING VIRAL DATA AND/OR CODETRANSFER of the incorporated applications, configured to provideelectrical power to the tracked distance measuring device 1100.

The tracked distance measuring device 1100 illustrated in FIGS. 11A and11B may further include a stowable satellite navigation antenna array1112. The stowable satellite navigation antenna array 1112 may includemultiple individual antennas, as well as associated circuitry, forreceiving GPS and/or other satellite navigation signals in order todetermine location and/or tilt, orientation, and pose of the trackeddistance measuring device 1100. The individual antennas may bepositioned along an arm that may be further configured to fold in and bestored when not in use or folded out and extend outward when in use. Forinstance, the arms may be configured to fold along direction of arrows1113.

As further illustrated in FIG. 11C, the actuator 1106 may communicatewith a PCB 1114 and initiate a dipole magnetic field signal from antenna1116 and a distance measurement via distance meter device 1108, that maycorrelate to a position (location and pose) of the tracked distancemeasuring device 1100. The PCB 1114 may include a processing elementusing a processor or processors and associated memory that may be usedto generate, receive, and process signals (e.g., data signals fromsensors and mechanisms, distance meter device 1108, and/or other systemdevices, and the like) as well as user input signals recorded viamicrophone 1118.

The PCB 1114 may include other sensors and modules, such as gyroscopicsensors or other inertial navigation sensors, radio transceiver modulesfor communicating with various system devices (e.g., Bluetooth, WIFI, orother wireless communications transceivers), and so on. The trackeddistance measuring device 1100 may further include one or more camerassuch as the telephoto camera 1120 and wide angle camera 1122. Inembodiment 1100, the cameras 1120 and 1122 may take still or videoimages of a targeted POI and/or the surrounding environment. Such imagesmay further be displayed on graphical user interface 1104 and/orcommunicated to a connected system device for display. Images mayfurther be stored and correlated with the dipole signals and distance toPOI data. Displaying of imagery provided by cameras 1120 and/or 1122 ongraphical user interface 1104 may allow a user to effectively aim thetracked distance measuring device 1100 at a POI. Imagery collected maybe used to identify the POI and create and map the POI which may alsoinclude metadata identifying the POI type or other characteristicsthrough artificial intelligence, simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM), or image recognition methods.

The tracked distance measuring device 1100 may further include a laser1124, which may be a green laser or other color or other daylightvisible laser, which may emit a laser beam and allow or aid to visuallydetermine the aim of the tracked distance measuring device 1100.

The various tracked distance measuring devices as described herein maybe used in a tracking mode to draw out or outline POIs. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 12, a user 1210 may be equipped with a trackeddistance measuring device 1220, which may be any of the types describedherein or similar or equivalent types, to outline POI 1230. Thelocations associated with POI 1230 may further be communicated to autility locator 1240, one or more computer mapping devices 1250, and/orother computer systems and system devices. The mapped POI location 1232may further be displayed on the graphical user interface 1242 of theutility locator 1240, display 1252 of computer mapping device 1250,and/or displayed on other system devices.

Tracked distance measuring device embodiments may also be used todetermine dimensions and or geometry of POIs or other objects within thework area. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, tracked distancemeasuring device embodiment 1300, which may be of any embodiment of thetypes described herein or equivalent or similar devices, may be held bya user 1310 who may further hold a utility locator device 1320 and a GPSbackpack device 1330. The tracked distance measuring device 1300 may bedirected at a POI 1340 and may generate one or more tracked measurementsof POI 1340. Within FIG. 13, user 1310 is shown generating threedifferent tracked measurements of POI 1340 though a different number ofmeasurements may be used to determine a POI's height or other dimensionsor the POI's geometry.

In some embodiments, tracked distance measuring capabilities may bebuilt into an optical ground tracking device disposed upon a utilitylocator such as those described in the incorporated applications. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 14A, a utility locator device embodiment1400 may include an optical ground tracking device 1410 disposed uponthe utility locator 1400's mast to optically track movements andlocations of utility locator device 1400 as it is moved across a locatearea.

As further shown in FIG. 14B, optical ground tracking device embodiment1410 may further include a laser 1412, which may be a green laser orother color or other daylight visible laser, that may emit a laser beamonto the ground surface. The optical ground tracking device 1410 mayfurther include a series of cameras 1414 and 1416 configured to trackthe ground and determine movement of the utility locator device 1400(FIG. 14A). Each camera may have a respective optical axis 1415 and 1417which may be parallel and oriented in the same direction as the beamemitted by laser 1412. The laser 1412 may be located midway along thebaseline between cameras 1414 and 1416 wherein the baseline may have aknown measured distance notated as D. Each camera 1414 and 1416 may havean angle of total possible field of view notated as ϕ bisected by theoptical axis 1415 or 1417 that may include measured areas truncated fromview of the internal imager sensor within the respective camera 1414 or1416. Likewise, the total distance from the optical axis to the edge offrame measured in pixels is notated herein as f.

Another angle, notated herein as θ, may represent the angle between theoptical axis 1415 or 1417 towards laser spot 1420. The distance withinthe frame measured along the optical axis 1415 or 1417 and laser spot1420 measured in pixels may be notated herein as p. Within the opticalground tracking device 1410 illustrated in FIG. 14B, the angle ϕ may beknown and the pixel measurements of f and p may be determined from theframe collected by the camera containing the laser spot such as laserspot 1420 within the frame collected by camera 1414. A furthercalculation may be made to determine angle θ wherein

$\theta = {\frac{\left( {\varphi*p} \right)}{2*f}.}$

The optical ground tracking device 1410 may be of the variety describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/752,834, filed Jun. 27, 2015,entitled GROUND TRACKING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/187,785, filed Jun. 21, 2016, entitled BURIEDUTILITY LOCATOR GROUND TRACKING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS of theincorporated patent and patent applications with the addition of a lasersuch as laser 1412.

Returning to FIG. 14A, the laser 1412 (FIG. 14B) may emit a laser beamand create a laser spot 1420 along the ground surface visuallyidentifiable by a user 1430 and allowing or aiding the user 1430 to aimthe cameras 1414 and 1416 (FIG. 14B). As illustrated in FIG. 14A, thefield of view 1440 of the cameras 1414 and 1416 (FIG. 14B) of opticalground tracking device 1410 may be aimed towards a POI 1450. The laser1412 (FIG. 14B) may be oriented within optical ground tracking device1410 such that the laser spot 1420 may be located within the field ofview 1440.

As illustrated in FIG. 14A, the laser spot 1420 may be located withinthe center of the field of view 1440. As the field of view 1440 isdirected towards POI 1450, the optical ground tracking device 1410 maycollect imagery from field of view 1440 as well as determine and map thelocation of the POI 1450 (e.g., method 1500 of FIG. 15). The imagerycollected, which may include that of the laser spot 1420 and the POI1450 within the field of view 1440 may further be displayed upon agraphical user interface 1402 on the utility locator device 1400 (e.g.,POI indication 1404 or laser spot indication 1406) and/or communicatedto other mapping systems or other computing devices (not illustrated).

An optical ground tracking embodiment including a laser, such as opticalground tracking device 1410 of FIGS. 14A and 14B, may use a method suchas method embodiment 1460 as illustrated in FIG. 14C to determine aPOI's location within the field of view of one or more cameras of theoptical ground tracking device. In step 1462, the laser may be turned onto create laser spot, such as laser spot 1420, along the ground surfacewithin the field of view of one or more of the cameras on the opticalground tracking device and recorded within a first frame or set ofoverlapping adjacent frames. Within this method, the laser spot maycorrelate to the POI location on the ground. The recorded image(s) ofthe frame(s) from step 1462 may be stored within a memory. In step 1464,the laser may be turned off within another frame or set of overlappingframes captured by the camera or cameras and further stored withinmemory.

Due to frame rate of images collected within the subsequent framesand/or the user directing the laser of the optical ground trackingdevice towards a POI and holding the device aimed in the same directionbetween frames, the subsequent frames or frame sets may be of the sameapproximate location. In a step 1466, differencing of subsequent framesor search lines known to contain the laser spot may be carried out inorder to find a peak of light corresponding to the location of the laserspot within the frame. In some embodiments, the orientation of the laserrelative to the camera or cameras (e.g., the orientation of cameras 1414or 1416 relative to laser 1412 of optical ground tracking device 1410illustrated in FIG. 14B) may determine that the laser spot may occurwithin a single search line such as search line 1418 of FIG. 14B. Insome such method embodiments, motion compensation signal processing maybe used to compensate for movement between subsequent frames. Forinstance, a sum of absolute difference, other block-matching method, orother motion compensation methods may be used.

Within the optical ground tracking device 1410 illustrated in FIG. 14B,the laser 1412 may be oriented midway between cameras 1414 and 1416 andoriented such that the laser emitted may be parallel to the optical axes1415 and 1417. Given such a geometry, the distance to laser spot 1420,which may correspond to a POI location in use, is notated as d_(POI) andmay be determined by method 1470 described in FIG. 14D. Various termsillustrated in FIG. 14B may be used within the method 1470 of FIG. D.Method embodiment 1470 of FIG. D may include step 1472 in which thelocation of the laser spot may be determined in at least one camera.This step may be implemented via method 1460 of step 14C. In step 1474,a value for angle θ may be determined wherein

$\theta = {\frac{\left( {\varphi*p} \right)}{2*f}.}$

As the optical axis and laser beam direction are parallel (e.g. opticalaxis 1415 and beam from laser 1412 of optical ground tracking device1410 illustrated in FIG. 14B), the angle θ and the angle originatingfrom laser spot between the camera and laser may be equivalent. In step1476, the measurement or range between the laser and laser spot (e.g.,laser 1412 and laser spot 1420 of FIG. 14B) notated as d_(POI) may becalculated wherein d_(POI)=D/(2*tan θ). With a d_(POI) value determinedthrough method 1470, the location of a POI corresponding to the lasermay further be determined (e.g., through the use of method 900 of FIG.9). The illustration of optical ground tracking device embodiment 1410of FIG. 14B and method embodiment 1470 of FIG. 14D only illustrate usinga single camera (e.g., camera 1414 of FIG. 14B) to determine a d_(POI)value. The method 1470 of FIG. 14D may, in some embodiments, beimplemented with the other camera (e.g., camera 1416 of FIG. 14B) or viaboth cameras or with additional cameras or imaging sensors (not shown).

In tracking distance measuring device embodiments equipped with anoptical ground tracking having two or more cameras, such as forstereoscopic imaging, three dimensional modeling of a POI may be done.For example, the optical ground tracking device embodiment 1410illustrated in FIG. 14B may have spatially spaced apart cameras 1414 and1416 that may each generate an image of the same POI (e.g., a POI markedby laser spot 1420) from different known angles. Methods known ordeveloped in the art for three dimensional reconstructions from multipleimages may be applied to the overlapping images of the POI generated bycameras 1414 and 1416 to generate a three dimensional model of the POI.The three dimensional POI model may further be added to a map or mappingsystem covering the locate area.

FIG. 15 illustrates details of a method embodiment 1500 that may be usedfor POI identification and mapping using an optical ground trackingdevice configured for distance measuring, such as the optical groundtracking device embodiment of FIGS. 14A and 14B, or other optical groundtracking device embodiments as described in the incorporatedapplications or as known or developed in the art. Process 1500 may beginat step 1510, wherein the laser and optical ground tracking device maybe aimed/pointed or otherwise positioned towards a POI. In step 1520, asimages of the POI come into a viewing frame of the optical groundtracker they may be displayed on the graphical user interface of theutility locator and/or other communicatively coupled system device. Forexample, the utility locator may be held momentarily in a position withthe optical ground tracking device directed towards the POI. In someembodiments, the laser may be pulsed on and off so that it appears onlyin certain imaging fields, such as, for example, in every other field ofview collected by one or more cameras, or in frames collected by themultiple cameras with overlapping frames as described in theincorporated optical ground tracking applications.

A sum of absolute differences or other similar or equivalent algorithmsfor motion estimation may be used to difference the frames and providerelative location of the in frame POI relative to the utility locator.In step 1530, an indication may be provided that a POI is at thelocation in frame at the optical ground tracking device. For example, auser may press a button on the utility locator or provide an audio noteto a microphone on the utility locator or other like indication to thepresence of a POI. In some embodiments, POI identification may be doneusing image analysis, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and/orother machine learning algorithms and methods as known or developed inthe art, in either real time or in post processing.

In step 1540, the location of the utility locator device may bedetermined, such as, for example, is described previously herein withrespect to satellite or terrestrial positioning system receivers,inertial sensors, or other positioning devices. For example, the utilitylocator may be equipped with GPS and/or other satellite navigationreceiver, as well as the optical ground tracking device. The GPSreceiver may determine the location of the utility locator relative tothe Earth's surface and provide a corresponding output with positionaldata. In step 1550, images of the POI may be generated, associated withthe POI data, and stored in a non-transitory memory. Such images may begenerated through the cameras within the optical ground tracking device,or, in some embodiments, via separate cameras or imaging sensors.

In step 1560, the location of the POI may be determined and storedwithin the memory as data. For example, from the utility locatorlocation data determined in a prior step and the known geometry ofcameras and laser on the optical ground tracking device relative to theutility locator, the location of the POI may be determined bycalculation using the various determined distances and angles andcombining them in three-dimensional vector space.

Step 1560 may be implemented by a process such as that illustrated inthe method embodiment 1460 of FIG. 14C for determining the location ofthe POI marked by the laser within the camera frame, method 1470 of FIG.14D to determine range to the POI marked by the POI, and/or method 900of FIG. 9 to determine the location of the POI relative to the Earth'ssurface and map the POI. The various steps described in method 1500 maybe implemented in either real time within the utility locator and/or inpost processing either within the utility locator or other system orelectronic computing device.

Optionally, the POI imagery and/or other imagery collected by camerasand optical ground tracking devices as described within the variousembodiments may be orthorectified and aligned with aerial imagery of theEarth's surface.

FIG. 16 illustrates details of an embodiment 1600 of a tracked distancemeasuring device and utility locating system. As shown, a utilitylocating and POI identification system may include a utility locatordevice 1610, a transmitter 1620, a backpack device 1630 (interchangeablyreferred to as GPS backpack device 1630), and a tracked distancemeasuring device 1640. A smart phone 1650 (also illustrated in the FIG.17A as smart phone 1750 associated with the tracked distance measuringdevice 1710) may secure to the tracked distance measuring device 1640allowing the user 1660 to view device or system data, aim the trackeddistance measuring device 1640, process and/or store POI and/or utilitylocate and mapping data. Optionally, the smart phone 1650 may takephotographs and/or video of the work area. For instance, a data link(wired or wirelessly utilizing Bluetooth, WIFI, or like wirelesscommunications transceivers) may be established between the trackeddistance measuring device 1640 and the smart phone 1650. Upon actuationof the tracked distance measuring device 1640, the smart phone 1650 mayrecord imagery of a targeted POI such as POI 1680. Likewise, the smartphone 1650 may communicate other sensor data with the tracked distancemeasuring device 1640 and/or other system devices. In some embodiments,the smart phone 1650 may process and/or store the tracked distancemeasuring device 1640 and/or other system device data. In someembodiments, the smart phone 1650 may further communicate data to acloud computing system for storage and/or processing of data.

The utility locator device 1610 may sense one or more electromagneticsignals, such as signal 1622 emitted from utility line 1670 anddetermine the location of utility line 1670 (as well as depth within theground therefrom). Signal 1622 emitted from utility line 1670 may begenerated from transmitter 1620 coupled to utility line 1670. Likewise,the utility locator device 1610 may measure various otherelectromagnetic signals present in the environment to determine and mapsuch signals that may further be used to determine the location andorientation of various signal sources within the locate environment(e.g., other utility lines or buried conductor emitting signals,overhead powerlines, radio broadcast towers, electronic marking devices,Sondes, or other signal sources).

In some embodiments, a system in keeping with the present disclosure mayinclude one or more utility locator devices configured for use withpassive signals generated due to, for example, current flow induced inthe utility from broadcast signals such as AM broadcast radiotransmissions or other ambient signals, and/or active signals generatedupon coupling or inducing current onto the utility line 1670 by using atransmitter device (e.g. signal 1622 from transmitter 1620 coupled toutility line 1670) or inductive couplers or lines that otherwise haveinherent current flow therein. Within system 1600, such signals measuredat the utility locator device 1610 may include dipole signals 1635-1639emitted by the GPS backpack device 1630 and/or dipole signals 1642 and1644 emitted by the tracked distance measuring device 1640 to determinethe location and pose of the GPS backpack device 1630 and trackeddistance measuring device 1640 relative to the utility locator device1610 and further use such information to determine the location of andmap signals measured by the utility locator device 1610 and any POIsidentified by a tracked distance measuring device such as POI 1680 ofFIG. 16 identified by tracked distance measuring device 1640 (e.g.,through methods described herein in connection with FIGS. 3A-4, 5C, and9). Additional wireless communication may be established between theutility locator device 1610, GPS backpack device 1630, tracked distancemeasuring device 1640, and smart phone 1650 for exchange of data andcontrol over various system devices.

FIG. 17A illustrates details of an embodiment showing additional detailsof a tracked distance measuring device 1710 with a smart phone 1750attached or secured thereto. The tracked distance measuring device 1710with smart phone 1750 may be of the variety or share aspects with thetracked distance measuring device 1610 and smart phone 1650 described inconnection with FIG. 16 or other tracked distance measuring devices asdisclosed herein. The tracked distance measuring device 1710 mayexternally include a housing 1712 and an actuator or trigger mechanism1714. The actuator/trigger mechanism 1714 may allow a user to actuatetracked distance measuring device 1710. In other embodiments, othertypes of user input mechanisms (e.g., pushbutton controls, switches,levers, touch screens, or through an attached smart phone) may beincluded. The actuator/trigger mechanism 1714 may be actuated in asingle action or in a continuous tracing mode (as described within FIG.12) if held depressed. A battery 1716 may secure to tracked distancemeasuring device 1710 to provide electrical power.

As shown in FIGS. 17B and 17C, the smart phone 1750 (FIG. 17A) may besecured to the tracked distance measuring device 1710 via bracket 1718.The bracket 1718 may be designed to allow an unobstructed view of atargeted POI and surrounding work area via the connected smart phone(such as smart phone 1750 of FIG. 17A). In some embodiments, the bracketmay be made adjustable to accommodate the dimensions of different smartphones, tablets, or other like computing devices.

As further illustrated in FIG. 17C, the actuator/trigger mechanism 1714may pass into an internal cavity within the housing 1712 such that theactuator/trigger mechanism 1714 may allow for communication to a PCB1720 and actuate the generation of dipole signals emitted via antennas1722 and 1724 as well as initiate a correlating distance measurement viarangefinder element 1726. The antennas 1722 and 1724 may be arrangedorthogonal to one another in a known arrangement within the trackeddistance measuring device 1710. The dipole signals produced by eachantenna 1722 and 1724 may be the same frequency or different frequenciesknown at the utility locator device. The rangefinder element 1726 may bea laser distance measurement rangefinder. In other embodiments, therangefinder element may be or include other types of rangefinders (e.g.,radar, sonar, LiDAR, ultrasonic, or the like). One or more cameras, suchas camera 1727 may be included to collect still and or video images of aPOI and/or the surrounding work area in addition to or in lieu of anattached smart phone (e.g., smart phone 1750 of FIG. 17A). The PCB 1720may contain a processing element using a processor or processors andassociated memory that may be used to generate, receive, and processsignals (e.g., dipole signal for tracking, data signals from sensors andmechanisms and/or other system devices, and the like) as well as userinput signals recorded via microphone 1728.

The PCB 1720 may further include various other sensors and modules suchas gyroscopic sensors or other inertial navigation sensors, radiotransceiver modules for communicating with various system devices (e.g.,Bluetooth, WIFI, or other wireless communications transceivers), and soon. In embodiments with wireless transceivers, a wireless connection maybe established between various system devices. For instance, asillustrated in FIG. 16, various devices may communicate wirelesslywithin the system embodiment 1600. In some embodiments, a trackeddistance measuring device may further include other sensors and modulesincluding, but not limited to, GPS or other satellite and/or land basednavigation system sensors and associated antennas, various cameras andimaging sensors, audio recording capabilities and sensors, as well asgraphical user interfaces to display data to a user. A wired connector1730 may further be provided to a smart phone such as the smart phone1750 of FIG. 17A allowing a connection to tracked distance measuringdevice 1710. In some embodiments, a wireless connection (e.g.,Bluetooth, WIFI, or other wireless communications transceivers) mayinstead or additionally be used.

FIG. 18 illustrates details of an embodiment of a GPS backpack device1800 used in conjunction with the tracked distance measuring deviceembodiment of FIG. 16. The GPS backpack device 1800 may be of thevariety or share aspects with the GPS backpack device 1630 of FIG. 16 orother GPS backpack devices described herein. The GPS backpack device1800 may be used to determine or refine the geolocation of a utilitylocator device such as the utility locator device 1610 of FIG. 16. TheGPS backpack device 1800 may include a frame 1810 onto which electronicsand other components may secure, and straps 1820 allowing a user tocarry the GPS backpack device 1800. The GPS backpack device 1800 mayfurther include a GPS antenna 1830 may be of a high precision. Forinstance, GPS antenna 1830 may be a Viva GS-16 GNSS antenna commerciallyavailable from Leica Geosystems or other high precision GPS antennas forreceiving signals from global positioning satellites and determininglocation along the Earth's surface. The GPS backpack device 1800 mayemit various signals, such as signals 1635-1639 emitted from GPSbackpack device 1630 of FIG. 16, that may be measured at a utilitylocator device to determine or refine the position and pose of theutility locator device relative to the GPS backpack device and theEarth's surface.

Further, the GPS backpack device 1800 may include a number of antennasor antenna arrays such as beacon antennas 1835-1838 as well as beaconantenna 1839 secured circumferentially about the GPS antenna 1830 thatmay be used to transmit signals. A different frequency may betransmitted at each beacon antenna 1835-1839 that may be received andmeasured at a utility locator device such as the utility locator device1610 of FIG. 16. In some system and device embodiments, the variousbeacon antennas of a GPS backpack device may be centered around 600 Hz.The use of 600 Hz may be advantageous be the lowest common harmonic of50 and 60 Hz ideal for accurate tracking. For instance, the variousbeacon antennas of the GPS backpack device 1800 illustrated in FIG.18may include first step frequencies set to plus or minus 8 Hz (608 and592 Hz), second step frequencies set to plus or minus 7 Hz from thefirst step frequencies (615 and 585 Hz), third step frequencies set toplus or minus 8 Hz from the second step frequencies (622 and 578 Hz),fourth step frequencies set to plus or minus 7 Hz from the third stepfrequencies (629 and 571 Hz), fifth step frequencies set to plus orminus 8 Hz from the fourth step frequencies (636 and 564 Hz), and so on.As such, within the GPS backpack device 1800 the beacon antenna 1835 maybe set to broadcast a signal at 608 Hz, beacon antenna 1837 may be setto broadcast a signal at 592 Hz, beacon antenna 1836 may be set tobroadcast a signal at 615 Hz, beacon antenna 1838 may be set tobroadcast a signal at 585 Hz, and beacon antenna 1839 may be set tobroadcast a signal at 622 Hz. Such signals measured at a utility locatordevice may be used to determine the location and pose of the GPSbackpack device 1800 relative to the utility locator device. The GPSbackpack device 1800 may further include one or more inertial sensorssuch as sensors 1840, 1842, 1844, and 1846 to aid in determining thepose of GPS backpack device 1800. A battery 1850 may further secure toGPS backpack device 1800 and provide electrical power to the variouspowered components thereof.

In some POI identification system embodiments including a GPS backpackdevice, the GPS backpack device may include antennas to receive andmeasure the signals emitted from a tracked distance measuring device soas to use such signals to determine the location and pose of the trackeddistance measuring device. The GPS backpack device embodiment mayfurther process and/or store tracked distance measuring device data andassociated POI location data. For instance, the GPS backpack embodimentmay utilize the method embodiments described in conjunction with FIGS.3A-4, 5C, and 9 to determine location and pose of the tracked distancemeasuring device and further determine the location of POIs relative tothe Earth's surface. Such systems allow POI identification and mappingwithout use of a utility locator device.

FIG. 19 illustrates details of an embodiment of a POI identificationsystem 1900 without a utility locator device. The POI identificationsystem embodiment 1900 may include a GPS backpack device 1930 and atracked distance measuring device 1940. A smart phone 1950 (such assmart phone 1750 illustrated in FIG. 17A) may be secured to the trackeddistance measuring device 1940 allowing the user 1960 to view device orsystem data, aim the tracked distance measuring device 1940, processand/or store POI and/or utility locate and mapping data. The GPSbackpack device 1930 may be of the variety or share aspects with the GPSbackpack device 1800 described in conjunction with FIG. 18. Forinstance, the GPS backpack device 1930 may include the four beaconantennas along the four corner of the frame of the GPS backpack device1930 as well as the antenna secured circumferentially about the GPSantenna. Within GPS backpack device 1930, some such beacon antennas maybe switched from broadcasting signals to instead receive the signals.For instance, signals 1942 and 1944 emitted by the tracked distancemeasuring device 1940 may be received by antennas within the GPSbackpack device 1930 to determine the position and pose of the trackeddistance measuring device 1940 relative to the GPS backpack device 1930.Such information may further be used to determine the location of andmap any POIs identified by the tracked distance measuring device 1940such as POI 1980. Within system 1900, the GPS backpack device 1930,tracked distance measuring device 1940, smart phone 1950, and/or othervarious system devices may include wireless transceivers (e.g.,Bluetooth, WIFI, or other wireless communications transceivers) forwireless communication of data and/or control commands.

FIG. 20 illustrates details of an embodiment of a method 2000 for POIidentification system (such as the system 1900 illustrated in FIG. 19)embodiments configured to operate without a utility locator device. In afirst step 2010 of the method 2000, a user equipped with a GPS backpackdevice and tracked distance measuring device may walk the work area. TheGPS backpack device includes one or more antennas or antenna arrays toreceive and measure signals emitted by the tracked distance measuringdevice to determine its location and pose relative to the GPS backpackdevice. In a second step 2020, the user may identify a POI and mark thePOI with the tracked distance measuring device. The user may aim thetracked distance measuring device at the POI and actuate the trackeddistance measuring device, for instance, by pulling a trigger/actuatoror pushing a button on the tracked distance measuring device. Uponactuating the tracked distance measuring device, the tracked distancemeasuring device may emit one or more signals (e.g., signals 1942 and1944 of FIG. 19) as well as collect a distance measurement. In a step2030, the distance measurement data may be communicated and stored by aconnected system device. For instance, the tracked distance measuringdevice, the GPS backpack device, a smart phone, and/or other connectedsystem device may receive the distance measurement data generated by thetracked distance measuring device using method 400 of FIG. 4 and method550 of FIG. 5C.

In a step 2040, the signal(s) emitted by the tracked distance measuringdevice are measured at one or more antennas at the GPS backpack device.In a step 2050, the location and pose data is communicated to and/orstored by a system device (e.g., a smart phone, internal storage withina GPS backpack device or tracked distance measuring device, and/or othersystem device). In a step 2060, the POI location is determined from thedistance measurement data from step 2030 and the location and pose datafrom step 2050. This step may utilize the method 400 described with FIG.4 and/or method 550 of FIG. 5C. In a step 2070, the POI locations arecorrelated with maps of the work area. In an optional step 2080, mapdata containing POI locations from step 2070 may be correlated withother maps of the work area. For instance, a user later equipped with amapping utility locator device may walk the work area measuring andmapping electromagnetic signals within the work area to determine thepresence, absence, location, depth, and other utility data of utilitylines buried within the Earth. The utility locate map created may bemerged with the POI location map from step 2080.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, functions, andcircuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed hereinand, for example, in a processor or processing element as describedherein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor,a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, firmware, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor maybe a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. A processing element may furtherinclude or be coupled to one or more non-transitory memory storageelements such as ROM, RAM, SRAM, or other memory elements for storinginstructions, data, and/or other information in a digital storageformat.

In some configurations, embodiments of a tracked distance measuringdevice and/or associated utility locator device or other devices orsystems as described herein may include means for performing variousfunctions as described herein. In one aspect, the aforementioned meansmay be in a processing element using a processor or processors andassociated memory in which embodiments reside, and which are configuredto perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. Theaforementioned means may be, for example, modules or apparatus residingin a printed circuit board element or modules, or other electroniccircuitry modules, to perform the functions, methods, and processes asare described herein. In another aspect, the aforementioned means may bea module or apparatus configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions, methods andprocesses described may be implemented in whole or in part in hardware,software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented insoftware, the functions may be stored on or encoded as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory processor-readable medium andmay be executed in one or more processing elements. Processor-readablemedia includes computer storage media. Storage media may be anyavailable non-transitory media that can be accessed by a computer,processor, or other programmable digital device.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media caninclude RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium thatcan be used to carry or store desired program code in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps or stagesin the processes and methods disclosed are examples of exemplaryapproaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that thespecific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearrangedwhile remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Any methodclaims may present elements of the various steps in a sample order, andare not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presentedor inclusion of all steps or inclusion of alternate or equivalent stepsunless explicitly noted.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepsmay have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processes, methods,and/or circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented or performed in a processing element with ageneral purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, theprocessor may be any conventional processor, controller,microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implementedas a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP anda microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps or stages of a method, process or algorithm described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodieddirectly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, orin a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage mediumknown in the art. An exemplary storage medium such as a non-transitorymemory may be externally coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium and/or read and execute instructions from the storagemedium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to theprocessor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC.The ASIC may reside in a device such as described herein another device.In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside asdiscrete components. Instructions to be read and executed by aprocessing element to implement the various methods, processes, andalgorithms disclosed herein may be stored in a non-transitory memory ormemories of the devices disclosed herein.

It is noted that as used herein that the terms “component,” “unit,”“element,” or other singular terms may refer to two or more of thosethings. For example, a “component” may comprise multiple components.Moreover, the terms “component,” “unit,” “element,” or other descriptiveterms may be used to describe a general feature or function of a groupof components, units, elements, or other items. For example, an “RFIDunit” may refer to the primary function of the unit, but the physicalunit may include non-RFID components, sub-units, and such.

The presently claimed invention is not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the disclosures herein and their equivalents as reflected by theclaims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intendedto mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather“one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some”refers to one or more. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list ofitems refers to any combination of those items, including singlemembers. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended tocover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c.

The previous description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enableany person skilled in the art to make or use embodiments of thepresently claimed invention. Various modifications to these aspects willbe readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other aspects withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the presentlyclaimed invention is not intended to be limited to the aspects shownherein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with theappended Claims and their equivalents.

1. A distance measuring system, comprising: a utility locator device including one or more magnetic field antennas, a processing element programmed with instructions for processing received magnetic field signals to determine relative position of one or more magnetic field signal sources and the locator and provide the determined relative position as locator output data and/or store the determined relative position in a non-transitory memory of the locator; a positioning element for determining a location of the utility locator device in three dimensional space and providing output data defining the determined location; a tracked distance measuring device including: a housing; a rangefinder element for determining a distance or relative position to a point of interest (POI), and providing rangefinder output data corresponding to the determined distance or relative position to the POI; a magnetic field dipole sonde including: an alternating current (AC) signal generator including an output for providing an output AC current signal at one or more predetermined frequencies; and a magnetic field dipole antenna operatively coupled to the AC signal generator output to receive the output AC current signal and radiate a corresponding magnetic field dipole signal for sensing by the utility locator device; an actuator mechanism operatively coupled to the rangefinder element and the magnetic field dipole sonde for: triggering a distance determination; and triggering generation of the magnetic field dipole signal in conjunction with the triggering a distance determination; and a non-transitory memory for storing the output data from the positioning device and the output data from the utility locator device.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic field sources include the magnetic field dipole sonde.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic field sources include a buried utility carrying an AC current signal therein.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic field sources include a buried RFID marker device.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the rangefinder is a laser or acoustic rangefinder. 6-7. (canceled)
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the positioning element is a satellite positioning system receiver.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the satellite positioning system receiver comprises a real-time kinematic (RTK) system receiver including a reference station for providing real-time correction data. 10-12. (canceled)
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the positioning element is a terrestrial positioning system receiver. 14-16. (canceled)
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein the output AC current signal is a CW signal.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the output AC current signal is a data modulated signal.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the locator one or more magnetic field antennas include a dodecahedral antenna array and the locator processing element is configured to determine the relative position locator output data by processing outputs from the dodecahedral antenna array to determine gradient tensors and generating the output data based at least in part on the determined gradient tensors.
 20. The system of claim 1, wherein a reference axis of the magnetic field dipole sonde is axially oriented with an aiming direction of the rangefinder. 21-24. (canceled)
 25. The system of claim 1 further comprising a user input element.
 26. The system of claim 25, wherein the user input element includes a microphone and an audio recorder operatively coupled to an output of the microphone for recording audio data provided from a user.
 27. The system of claim 25, wherein the user input element includes pushbutton for inputting data from a user.
 28. The system of claim 1 further including a radio transceiver module for communicating data to one or more remote system devices.
 29. The system of claim 28, wherein the radio transceiver module is a Bluetooth or WiFi transceiver module.
 30. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnetic field sources includes the magnetic field dipole sonde, and the locator output data is generated at least in part using a lookup table including approximate signal origin location data associated with the magnetic field dipole sonde.
 31. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnetic field sources includes the magnetic field dipole sonde, and the locator output data is generated at least in part using an approximate signal location estimate.
 32. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnetic field sources include a buried utility and the magnetic field dipole sonde, and magnetic fields from the buried utility and the magnetic field dipole sonde are simultaneously processed to provide the locator output data, wherein the locator output data includes information associated with a relative position of the utility and information associated with a relative position of the sonde.
 33. The system of claim 1, wherein the rangefinder element comprises an optical ground tracking element.
 34. The system of claim 1, further comprising a camera element for capturing an image or video of the POI, wherein the image or video is stored in the non-transitory memory.
 35. The system of claim 1, further comprising a backpack device to be carried by a user, the backpack device includes one or more antennas to broadcast dipole signals at predefined frequencies measureable at the utility locator device for determining location of the utility locator device relative to the backpack device. 36-38. (canceled)
 39. A method of measuring distance with a distance measuring system, comprising: responsive to a user input, triggering a tracked distance measuring device to initiate in conjunction: a measurement of distance from a rangefinder element to a point of interest (POI); and transmission of a dipole magnetic field signal from a magnetic field dipole sonde element for sensing by a utility locator; and providing, from the tracked distance measurement device, the measurement as tracked distance measurement output data; and determining absolute positional data at the locator using a positioning element and providing the absolute positional data as an output; wherein the absolute positional data, the output data is processed in conjunction with the tracked distance measurement data, and relative positional data based on sensing of the dipole magnetic field signal at the locator are processed to determine absolute positional data associated with the POI.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the tracked distance measurement device is a laser rangefinder and the positional element is a satellite positioning system receiver.
 41. The method of claim 39, further comprising providing the absolute positional data as a data input to a mapping system.
 42. The method of claim 39, further comprising capturing an image of the POI in conjunction with the triggering. 